The Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center contributes to the food security of Mat-Su area through several initiatives.
 |
| Young potato pickers show off their treasures during the the Matanuska Experiment Farm’s Community Potato Harvest. |
In addition to its vegetable and grain variety trials, the farm
partners with Alaska Pacific University and Alaska Tilth, a nonprofit
dedicated to improving food security and feeding those in need.
APU’s Spring Creek Farm uses the farm’s greenhouses to raise fresh
produce for Alaska Tilth. Donations to Alaska Tilth also included 1,000
pounds of vegetables grown as part of the variety trials research, along
with produce purchased from six area farmers, through a grant received
by APU.
Each week during the summer, Adair Harman, a nutrition educator with
the UAF Cooperative Extension Service’s SNAP-Ed program, organizes all
the produce into donations. Recipients include area food banks, the
Wasilla WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program and Kids Kupboard, a
program that provides meals to kids 18 and under at 31 valley locations.
 |
| Produce donated and sorted at the Matanuska Experiment Farm is bagged and donated to the WIC program and food banks. |
This past summer, donations and food purchases to Alaska Tilth
totaled 10,632 pounds, and more than 1,400 bags of produce with
vegetable fact sheets, nutrition information and Extension recipes were
donated to WIC and to food bank clients through the Alaska Tilth
program. Altogether, Tilth vegetables were used in 70,000 meals
distributed by Kids Kupboard.
The farm also provides space for 36 community gardens and staff
planted 135 varieties of extra seed potatoes donated by the Alaska Plant
Materials Center. Families were assigned harvest plots and, in early
October, harvested 2,000 pounds of potatoes during the COVID-safe
Community Potato Harvest. Representatives from Kids Kupboard and
Frontline Mission harvested 400 more pounds.
