Farms: Alaska Agricultural Processors -Crowdfunding Project

Help fund an agricultural processing facility for family run farms in Alaska! Our agriculture community needs a multi-use agricultural processing facility for small family farms. This facility will provide services such as: ~Cold Storage- for short & long term food holding ~Commercial Kitchen- for farms creating value added product such as chili, tea, honey, syrup, jams, jellies... ~Rooms- for agricultural classes & farmer meetings ~Agricultural Processing Space- that a single family farm cannot afford ~Retail Space- for farms products & creations to be sold in a central location Help create a healthy and sustainable Alaskan agriculture through community support! With an estimated 680 family-run farms in Alaska we grow a generous amount of food, but 95% of Alaskan food is being imported. As the state struggles with a $3.5 billion deficit, the Alaska Division of Agriculture and its supporting programs are facing massive budget cuts, including cuts to our state seed potato programs, farm to school program, agricultural inspections and a number of other agricultural supporting programs. Not only does all of this damage our local family farms, all of that food being imported is bad news for FOOD SECURITY. Globalization and modern transportation- rather than making it more secure has left Alaska extremely vulnerable. And what about all those buzz words these days like organic, sustainability, community supported agriculture, the value of fresh picked and the elusive goal of food security? Alaska agriculture may be small in comparison to other states because the farms and ranches of Alaska are all mom and pop operations…no corporate farms here. Turning the tide from importing to local grown the Alaskan peony industry has paved the way to start this agricultural movement. One of the fastest growing industries in Alaska, Alaskan peonies have been shipped to every state in the U.S.A. and they are now starting to travel WORLDWIDE. For the first time Alaska is exporting something besides oil and fish. Now that we have shown how overwhelmingly successful our Alaskan agricultural can be it is time to apply this success to other facets of Alaskan agriculture! If we could get just 10% more of our food from local grown sources then we would have $250 million going back to Alaska. But we realize that awareness doesn’t grow food— that takes doing. Here’s where you come in… Go to: http://igg.me/at/AlaskaAg/x/6040483