The gnarly issue of feeding the residents of Alaska is never far from mind.
It's only taken four generations to nearly sever the ties between food production, and the modern consumer. Prior to that time, most rural homes had gardens, and generations of family who were skilled and experienced at home food preservation. They had root cellars, kitchen gardens, drying and smoking sheds, ice houses and shelf upon shelf of carefully preserved fruits and vegetables. They held over their own seeds, traded for what they didn't have, and sold or bartered excess with neighbors. There were no grocers, no supermarkets, no rapid transit to whisk the crops away to large centers for processing and distribution. The extensive interstate highway system did not exist, and what was moved around was done so by rail and barge. The birth of mega farms, monoculture production, and conglomerates was decades away from the lifestyle of the previous centuries.
Today, most kids believe food is contained only in brightly colored boxes their parents pull from the freezer and cupboard. There is a large disconnect between what they are served, and where it comes from. Today's urban child may know what animals are "farm" animals, but have never seen or laid hands upon one. They've never collected eggs, raised poultry or livestock for 4-H, or helped with family gardens. They've never been in a barn, let alone cleaned one, and never walked fields with bucket in hand, to round up that blasted loose calf. They've never picked an apple, or a berry, or a tomato. For most of them, there is too much outside out there, and it's smelly, disgusting, and scary.
For this, we can thank the urbanization of the workforce in no small part. From family farms and small towns, to the bustling hordes of large cities, the move was slow, steady, and allowed America to expand its business and economy, into one that most of the developed world envies even today. There are entire libraries devoted to this flight from farm to city, so there is little need to revisit the details. But Alaska remains a unique state, with a unique set of circumstances.
We are fortunate indeed, to have regular shipments from the western ports of the US. These shipments are absolutely crucial to feed Alaskan residents and visitors. Thanks in no small part to the invention of "just in time" ordering, Alaska grocers and retailers enjoy a steady supply of product for their customers. Even in the Bush, orders are regular (if subject to delivery conditions i.e: frozen rivers or break up of same) if costly. Back in the 60s, my own Mother used to sit down with a calendar and plan out meals to the ingredient. Why? Because we only got to town about every four months or so. Back then, every grocery store had a warehouse with additional inventory-just in case. If not, our trek to the grocery store would cause my Mother to hastily rework the menu calendar, due to empty shelves caused by barges lost at sea. Thankfully, a hand spaded large garden was very successful for the family.
The regular port arrivals of behemoth ships carrying hundreds of shipping containers, is Alaska's literal lifeline. Any serious disruption in the supply chain will have immense consequences, a ripple effect not well thought out by most residents. I have spoken to those in emergency management, who say it plain: Alaska is 9 meals away from anarchy. There are any number of scenarios which might cause that critical chain to snap (earthquake, tsunami, EMP, solar flare, other natural disaster down south, war, to name a few) so you'd think that the Division of Agriculture might be a logical place to find solutions to this risk we all face.
Well, good luck with that. The State of Alaska, if the Division of Agriculture is any indication, could care less about the state's inability to feed itself. They share no information freely about their activities, you must submit a FOIA that they will run before their state attorneys first. Their land offerings, as few as they are, are expensive, restrictive, and seldom successful with food production. They have a lot of payroll tied up in "marketing", which most advertising professionals would see as marginally effective. Yay, AlaskaGrown! Yay, Alaska State Fair! Yay, monster veggies! Yay local produce in season at grocery stores! Yay! The Alaska Grown Source Book! Yay, yay, yay! Right? Pffft! Wrong, oh so wrong.
Still no solution to the insurance problem.
Still no lands for a modern day land rush.
Still no progress in getting Alaskans to feed themselves.
What do they do at the PMC? Well, who knows for sure. Except that hemp is not happening any time soon, they test grow a lot of stuff, but how are they proving their results? Answer: They don't.
A repository for all things relating to Ag in Alaska? Not hardly.
All of which, and a lot more contained on this blog, begs the question:
Does the State of Alaska need a Division of Agriculture at all?
