Local fruits and vegetables were in the spotlight last weekend at Soldotna’s annual Harvest Moon Local Food Festival. The event is put on by the Kenai Local Food Connection, which works to increase access to local produce and to promote healthy eating.
There was bluegrass music in the air and produce for sale Saturday at Soldotna Creek Park, while people shopped for fruits, vegetables and other goods. There were crafts and a petting zoo for kids, a performance space and tents for lectures and demos on everything from protecting gardens from bears to making salad with seaweed. Food trucks featured specials made with the same local produce sold at the festival.
Ann Ohn-Bar is the festival organizer for the Kenai Local Food Connection. She said the vibrant scene in Soldotna proves “Local food is alive and well in Alaska.”
Ohn-Bar said Alaskans want to feel like they can take care of themselves, and one another. Growing and sharing local produce is important, she said, and contributes to a sense of community and self-sufficiency.
The Harvest Moon Local Food Festival is the organization’s largest undertaking.
“All the farmers grow all year long, and at the end of the year, they grow for this event,” she said. “At the end, they know that they have a place where they can sell all their food, not just to the shoppers passing by, but to the food vendors who buy from them to then cook it and give it to the people. This is our big, great celebration of all the work we do all year.”
Those farmers filled a large market space at the festival, providing fruits and vegetables to eager buyers.
Henry Krull owns fresh365, a hydroponic garden and produce store. Under a tent in the main marketspace he was looking to showcase his locally grown mushrooms.
Krull says the festival is an opportunity to present his produce to people interested in local food.
“It’s great getting out and having people that are unfamiliar with our products in particular stop by and learn and maybe pick up something to take home,” he said.
An eye-catching tent at the center of the festival held the popular and returning fermentation station. That’s where festival volunteers taught attendees how to preserve their produce.
At the station, freshly bought greens were chopped, tossed and canned. The festival is a capstone to the growing season, but like the freshly-fermented produce, the memories of a fruitful harvest are sure to last through winter.
