Although AFFECT’s short-term goal was to effectively train and ensure the success of the next generation of Interior Alaskan Farmers through classes and farmer mentorship, the long-term vision for AFFECT goes beyond that. AFFECT is designed to eventually become its own non-profit. An advisory board has been formed to aid in the direction of AFFECT’s future. Alongside this board, AFFECT continues to be supported incalculably by Fairbanks Soil and Water District and their dedicated staff. This past summer, AFFECT was provided  its own Americorps VISTA member to help actualize the long-term vision of AFFECT. The goal is for AFFECT to become a multi-program organization dedicated to increasing and supporting the local food system through three core programs: AFFECT Farmer Training, AFFECT Farmer Incubation and AFFECT Community Incubator Kitchen. 

    

Following the first year of farmer training, AFFECT intends to continue to support students through assigning each student to a local farm to apprentice for a year. Following that, in the third year, AFFECT will offer students a small parcel of land (¼-½ acre) to start their business at a central location. The “incubator farm” model supports fledgling farmers by mitigating the initial risks of entering agriculture, such as costs of land, equipment, and lack of immediate mentorship. Student farmers will receive continued mentorship, shared equipment, business training, and cooperative sales. We are in discussions with multiple partners regarding potential locations. Programs like these have seen great success at increasing local food security, such as the Intervale Center in Vermont. With enough students at a centralized incubator farm, adequate wholesale contracts can be made with the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District to provide local food in school lunches. This goal has been pursued and approved by Trevor Bridgewater at the School District’s Nutrition Services. In summary, incubator farms give new farmers the experience and financial stability to successfully start new farm ventures, while creating opportunities for cooperative sales.

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AFFECT hopes to construct a community commercial kitchen and food storage facility that can be used by both students and local producers. This kitchen will bolster overall food production by providing a facility for food storage and processing, presently in high demand in Fairbanks. Secondary research has demonstrated extreme need:

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1. The Alaska Food Policy Council’s Report on Potential Infrastructure Investments (2018) highlights the needed priority to support, “Food Storage in Climate-Protected Food Caches Across the State”, and “Shared Community Kitchens for Creating Value-Added Products”.

2. The Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District’s Report on Food Security in Interior Alaska (2018) interviewed 87 producers and buyers and recommended a local food distribution center business model.

3. The Governor’s Food Security Task Force Report (2022) states the primary infrastructure needed for producers as, “cold storage and other storage infrastructure.” For processing, the report highlights, “commercial kitchens and processing equipment,”.

 

Primary research we’ve conducted shows over 20 local food producers making value-added products that don’t have access to a safe DEC certified kitchen, can’t afford to build their own, and now no longer qualify under cottage law because they make over $25,000. As word spreads about our intentions, more producers have been reaching out with interest. This underscores there is likely larger demand than we know. Conversations we’ve had with shared kitchens across the country have led us to believe that a kitchen like this will not only improve local food and economic security but can be a viable source of earned income for the proposed AFFECT non-profit.

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In all, the benefits of the AFFECT program have already begun to be felt in Fairbanks. AFFECT has successfully brought two groups of student farmers through the course, created over 27 weeks worth of curricula, produced hundreds of pounds of fresh local produce for the Food Bank and Breadline, and established a community food web that includes advocates, students, and mentors. We hope to continue training prospective farmers this coming year with your support. The potential of AFFECT is profound as AFFECT hopes to not only train fledgling farmers, but provide land at a centralized incubator farm close to the city center. As importantly, the emergence of an AFFECT Community Kitchen would help bolster the already present farmer population’s food production by providing a shared facility to store and process their yields. To conclude, our short-term goal is that AFFECT continues to train and educate another class of student farmers this coming year. Our long term goal is that AFFECT become a dedicated food security non-profit, able to additionally provide an incubator farm and community kitchen.