So how much food do we actually produce?

Alaska’s agriculture experts want to know how much food is grown and how much is imported into the state.

In order to get the facts, Charles Caster, a student in UAF’s School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, is conducting a survey of Fairbanks-area vegetable and fruit producers. Eventually, the survey will expand throughout the state. It begins Oct. 1 and will cover producers in the Tanana Valley, from Ester to Goldstream to Two Rivers to North Pole to Delta Junction.

Caster visited the Tanana Valley Farmers’ Market many times over the summer and even volunteered to help at local farms in exchange for information. “I’ve pulled carrots and hung garlic,” he said. He is hoping for a high percentage of return for the surveys and is even offering an extra incentive. Three survey participants will win packages of Alaska-grown beef from the Matanuska Experiment Farm.

“We know that everyone bandies about the 5 percent figure, that 5 percent of Alaska’s food is produced in-state, but that’s really a guess,” said SNRAS Dean and Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Director Carol Lewis. “Alaskans have been saying they import 95 percent of their food for so long it’s become an urban legend.”

To start solidifying the numbers, SNRAS will mail a confidential survey to 60 local producers next week. They’ll have a month to return their paperwork or have the option to go to an online version of the survey. Questions include topics such as fertilizers, pest control, sales outlets, crop types and amounts, production constraints, and more. Caster will compile the answers and hopes that the survey will complement the US Department of Agriculture's annual survey of Alaska producers. Agricultural Development in the American Pacific funded the project.

Caster and Associate Professor Joshua Greenberg are in charge of the project. For information, contact Caster at 455-3890 or cdcaster@alaska.edu, or Joshua Greenberg, 474-7189, jagreenberg@alaska.edu.