Save the dates!
With the holidays coming up, we hope you take time to rest and reflect on 2022 before the New Year. We hope your celebrations are filled with local food, love, and laughter!
Please keep AFMA in mind moving into 2023 and kick off your year with us at these great events and opportunties.
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"I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring."
-David Bowie
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Upcoming AFMA Summit
& Annual Meeting
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Join us on March 24th from 9 AM to 4 PM for our Summit and Annual Meeting! We'll spend the day talking all things farmers markets, from social media to grants, volunteers to equity. We can't wait to see you virtually!
Registration is FREE but required. Follow the link below to sign up now:
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February 9th & 10th, 2023
Exciting News: we've partnered with the Washington State Farmers Market Association to host the 2023 Farmers Market Boot Camp for a second year! Save the date and join us on February 9-10th for this market manager training course. Just hired? Just elected? Join us for the 2023 Farmers Market "Boot Camp." Designed to move fast and cover the basics of running a farmers market, you will get practical, grounded, and timely tools needed for opening day and beyond. Board members get a look behind the info booth to see what goes into market operations, as well as their role in sustaining a strong market organization and building a great team. Whether you're a new or established market manager or board member, we hope you'll join us for this event!
We will host an on-demand recording for our "State Day," focused on all things Alaska in conjunction with this event. Visit the link below to learn more about this event, and check back often as we finalize details. Registration coming soon!
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Are you new to farming or know someone who is a beginning farmer?
Please take the Beginning and Young Alaskan Farmers Survey. Right now, we are in the information-gathering phase for a Statewide Network. Next step for this project and new farmers is to come together! We'll be reaching out to our farming friends, who respond to the survey, early in the new year to start developing our mission, vision, and collective goals. Our emerging top priorities as a group are: land access and skill share. Please share your thoughts with us!
Stay tuned for details on meetings in the new year!
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Community Farmers Market by Jenna Shea Photojournalism
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Farmers Markets: Systemic Change Agents
Food is power, which makes farmers markets powerful sites for systemic change. Read this compelling blog post, Farmers Markets: Systemic Change Agents, by FMC’s Executive Director, Ben Feldman. He addresses important questions about the role of farmers markets in dismantling racist structures in our food system.
He writes, “FMC supports farmers market organizations as entities that should tackle racial injustices in the food system through inclusive design, participatory management, and attention to the ways that our small, local, community-based markets can help to achieve systemic goals.”
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The Alaska Division of Agriculture is now accepting applications from commercial livestock farmers to help offset the recent high cost of animal feed.
The Alaska Dicision of Agriculture is now accepting applications from commercial livestock farmers to help offset the recent high cost of animal feed. If you’re a producer that operates a livestock farming business in good standing with the State, the Food Security Cost Assistance program can provide partial reimbursement for your feed expenditures made from August 1 to November 30. Eligible livestock is cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, reindeer, elk, bison, yak, and other animals raised for human consumption (including eggs, milk, and cheese) on a farm that operates as a business.
From the Division:
"We recognize that there is a significant issue regarding livestock feed in Alaska. A spring dry spell followed by nearly nonstop precipitation in the summer and fall caused a shortage in local feedstocks, while the current 40-year high of inflation drove up the costs of imported feed. The Division held a stakeholder meeting and conducted a statewide survey with feed producers, retailers, and consumers to receive input on the situation and to determine how to best address this food security issue.
“There’s no doubt that this year’s weather and the inflationary pressure of fuel and fertilizer prices have created tremendous challenges for our farmers and livestock producers,” said Governor Mike Dunleavy. “I want to thank the Departments of Natural Resources and Fish and Game, and the Division of Agriculture for moving forward with this initial aid package. Food security is a top priority for my administration, and that means supporting our local producers now so they may continue to provide food to Alaskans in the future.”
Livestock producers must apply for the Food Security Cost Assistance program by Dec. 31, 2022. Eligible livestock is cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, reindeer, elk, bison, yak, and other animals raised for human consumption (including eggs, milk, and cheese) on a farm that operates as a business. Feed purchased from Aug. 1, 2022 – Nov. 30, 2022 is eligible, with the reimbursement rates determined after all applications are processed. More information on the eligibility requirements can be found on the application:
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BUY LOCAL this holiday season!
Many markets around the state host holiday bazaars or winter markets where you can continue to find local goodies. Meats, breads, jellies & jams, plus other value-added products and crafts abound. Gift someone in your life the joy of locally produced goods, and keep some to enjoy yourself, too!
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Photo from the Tanana Valley Farmers Market Holiday Bazaar.
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Photo from the Tanana Valley Farmers Market Holiday Bazaar.
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