Food bank distributes at Matanuska Farm

Pallets of food from the Food Bank of Alaska await distribution last Tuesday at Kerttula Hall.

The Matanuska Experiment Farm has become a distribution point for the Food Bank of Alaska. Starting Tuesday, the food bank began distributing foods to its community partners from the large Blue Room in Kerttula Hall.

Karla Jutzi, the development and communications director for the food bank, said it will distribute food to about 20 community partners at Kerttula Hall. The partners represent food pantries and meal programs from Sutton north to Trapper Creek. The food bank does not distribute foods directly to individual clients.

Jutzi said, “We really appreciate the partnership. I think it’s going to work out really well.”

The food bank’s partners are enthusiastic about the farm’s good access and distribution space.  It’s easier to unload pallets and load at the farm, Jutzi said. The food bank has another  distribution point in the Mat-Su that it uses on Thursdays. Last year, she said the food bank distributed 1.3 million pounds of food to its valley partners, including Frontline Mission, Palmer Food Bank, Mat-Su Food Bank and Big Lake Community Food Pantry.

The arrangement with the farm was worked out by Farm Superintendent Angie Freeman-Shephard and representatives of the food bank, which receives donations of food from retailers and wholesalers in the Mat-Su and Anchorage areas.