It would be fairly safe to describe myself as a farmers’ market fiend. I visit them whenever and wherever I can, taking great pleasure in finding new ones and talking to the growers.

This summer’s Anchorage visit turned up two, one so small that I seriously wondered why the four stallholders bothered. The other, slightly larger, was much livelier in terms of both producers and customers.

They were all pretty much regulars so there was lots of chat about how different things could and had been used. Feedback, as it were, in its literal sense.

In spite of the effects being experienced from global warming, the growing season in Alaska is short and the range of produce fairly limited.

Fresh fruit and vegetables in supermarkets have to be trucked in from the Lower 48, some of them first flown there from all over the world. But, but, but…just before I left a friend discovered a box scheme.

Andrew Stout and his wife, Wendy Munroe, started with three acres in 1996 and are now the proud and dedicated owners of 300 organically certified acres in Carnation, Washington where they grow more than 125 varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Full Circle Farm produce is available all year-round through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program, supplemented by nearby farmers and artisan producers to bring more local food to market and provide more variety. Profiles of the others are available on the website.

Subscribers choose from three different sized boxes and can customize their order. Add-ons such as extra organic produce, local organic eggs, artisan breads, coffee, organic chocolate are available from Full Circle's Green Grocer. Recipes, storage tips, and information about the farms are regularly added to each box.

Extra products are sourced from Washington producers whenever possible although seasonal availability sometimes means going out of state to ensure variety. Boxes contain 12-14 fruits, vegetables, and herbs. As the box size goes up so does the amount of each item in the box.  

Drop off sites include schools and community centers as well as the offices of businesses who offer it as a service to employees. Downtown Anchorage has some 35 sites.

Outside the city, both Wasilla and Juneau have drop-off points where residents just might see their governor popping in to collect food for the family (if she doesn’t move to Washington DC in January).

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By Bernice Hurst  on   Oct 29,2008

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Keywords

Bernice Hurst    farmers market    food    eating    Alaska   

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