At the site of her home/farm in Kasilof, Grace Acres Farm owner Christina Land is hard at work harvesting bundles of veggies. She’s been cultivating turnips, cabbage, lettuce and several other vegetables for about a week and a half, gearing up for one of her farm's most important business days of the year.
Land will be one of nearly 40 vendors at this year’s Harvest Moon Festival, the Kenai Peninsula’s largest farmer’s market of the year. To be a vendor, you must sell Alaska-grown food or Alaska-sourced products.
Heidi Chay volunteers with Kenai Local Food Connection, a grassroots organization that aims to increase access to locally-grown food. The organization also hosts the festival. Chay says it began over a decade ago as a week-long celebration but was condensed into a single-day festival in 2018.
“The festival is really aimed at highlighting and raising awareness about the wide array of local food businesses, small, family-run businesses that we have here," she said. "And, celebrating that our local food system has been growing year by year.”
According to the USDA, the Kenai Peninsula is the fastest-growing farm area in Alaska. Although not as large as farms in the Matsu Valley, Kenai Peninsula farms earn about $8 million annually. Most area farms, including Grace Acres, grow various vegetables and raise livestock.
Chay says there are many benefits to buying locally harvested foods. For starters, she says it’s often better for the environment because fewer pesticides and fertilizers are used. It’s also a boost to the local economy.
“Everything that is grown and produced here and sold here locally, we all know that a dollar spent locally goes much further in the local economy than a dollar spent on imported goods," Chay said. "On top of that, what’s fresher is just healthier and better.”
Grace Acres Farm has participated in the Harvest Moon Festival since its inception. Aside from farmer’s markets, the farm sells produce at a roadside stand off the Sterling Highway in Kasilof. Christina Land says the festival gives vendors a place to showcase a year of hard work in one day.
“It allows farmers and producers to move a lot of quantity at one place," she said. "In one single seven-hour market, it equates, for us, I don’t know about others, it equates to one month of regular market sales. It brings a lot of locals to one fast-paced market.”
Land also says her farm’s presence at the festival is quite known – taking up three tents. Grace Acres is the only farm company at the festival that accepts SNAP benefits. Land and a few other vendors accept WIC coupons, as well.
“The cost of everything is going up, so being able to offer that just gives them the opportunity to get fresh, local produce,” Land said.
In addition to its local farming and food vendors, the festival will host cooking demonstrations, a pie baking contest, live music and more. It’s also home to the popular 'fermentation station,' where attendees can pickle Alaska-grown vegetables on-site.
Heidi Chay says the festival is just a small part of highlighting the region’s growing farms. A bonus, she says, is the locally grown food people can stock up on before winter.
“I hope that folks will come, that they will meet a new farmer, a new local food business, and realize there’s a neighbor that they want to support in the future," Chay said. "Someone that they’re going to look for at the farmer’s market next season, or a place to shop year-round during the winter.”
This year’s Harvest Moon Festival will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. this Saturday at Soldotna Creek Park. For more information or to view a local food directory, visit Kenai Local Food Connection's website.
