Food Security

Tyonek, Alaska, is a remote (off-the-road-system) community, located 43 air miles from the nearest urban center, where transportation of food items can face steep prices and regular disruptions. Approximately 170 tribal members live within the Alaskan Native Village of Tyonek, while another 600-900 live in other locations but remain tied to the land, both culturally and economically, with many returning for subsistence in the summer months. Especially as Tyonek is accessible only by bush plane or barge, residents and tribal members rely on subsistence species (especially salmon, moose, and berries) to supplement the expensive goods which must be flown in when the weather allows. Due to high costs of living, low wages, high unemployment and poverty rates, Native villages in rural Alaska are among the most challenging places to live in North America. In response to community demand and disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic, TTCDs community agriculture programming has expanded into other areas of food security resulting in increased food distribution and assessments to address local food system priorities and barriers.

Tyonek Gather

Tyonek Gather is a regional food distribution model that increases access to Alaskan grown foods from surrounding producers to all consumers in Tyonek. Tyonek Gather started with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Local Food Purchasing Assistance (LFPA Plus) program allowing TTCD to work closely with the Native Village of Tyonek (NVT) to establish a regional food supply chain that connects Tyonek with local food access in the Anchorage area. With support of LFPA funding, this program has been able to transport and distribute Alaska-grown foods at no cost directly to Tyonek residents.

Through this model, TTCD has launched the Tyonek Gather online Marketplace (similar to a food hub), providing an avenue for households and individuals to select foods of their choice from available inventory to receive each week.

The Tyonek Gather Market is intended for all Alaskan-grown and caught foods with a priority for indigenous producers. If you are a food producer that wants to sell your product, please contact us!

You can access the Tyonek Gather Market at: Tyonek Tribal Conservation District

Farmers Markets

The Tyonek Farmer’s Market was established in 2015 and has provided a weekly source of local food access to all residents of the Tyonek community through the summer months. The Farmer’s Market is operated by TTCDs Youth Interns who lead all market activities from harvesting and washing to set-up and sales. Availability of fresh food varies throughout the season and changes from year to year. In 2024, The Tyonek Farmer’s Market expanded its offerings to provide additional sources of Alaska-grown foods by transporting fresh foods from other communities across the state in order to provide increased access to eggs, honey, fruit and other statewide commodities.

Food System Assessments

Beginning in 2025, TTCD will begin a two-phase food system assessment to improve understandings of the specific conditions and barriers impacting the food system in Tyonek and for Tyonek shareholders, at large. To accomplish true food system resilience that ensures tribal food sovereignty in the face of crises, these assessments will shed light on existing gaps and barriers in Tyonek’s food system, as well as create systems for gathering community input on food system priorities and opportunities.

Comprehensive food system assessments evaluate the local food value chain, agricultural production, distribution channels and methods, purchasing, processing, consumption patterns, and waste. The assessment process will be guided by the expertise of Ken Meter with the Crossroads Resource Center and will be informed by community involvement through informal interviews, focus groups, surveys, and cognitive mapping, among other social strategies and collection of available data. Myriad methods will be used in order to gather real world accounts and include socio-cultural perspectives.
The Tyonek Food System Assessment will be produced between 2025-2026 and will involve a comprehensive assessment of food system considerations within the Tyonek community. The outcomes of this first assessment will not only guide ongoing food security work and be shared with the community and stakeholders but will also complement and inform a Climate Resilience Plan being developed by TTCD between 2024-2027. This climate resilience plan will inform conservation priorities over the next 10 years that will impact air traffic, coastal erosion, salmon habitat, and monitoring of traditional medicinal plants among many other concerns.
The Tyonek Shareholder Food Security Assessment, conducted in 2026-2027, will aim to take a systems approach to looking at the conditions of food security for all Tyonek tribal members. The vast majority of Tyonek shareholders live outside of Tyonek with many of them living in Anchorage, Homer, Kenai, or “the valley” (Palmer/Wasilla). As a result of our track record, TTCD has been tasked by community stakeholder partners and the TTCD Board of Directors to explore an expansion of our food security efforts into Anchorage for the Tyonek shareholders that live in this region. In order to better understand the levels of food security among tribal members in urban centers and respond to their gaps in food access, this assessment will inform a plan for regional expansion of food and agricultural programming into Anchorage.

Nutrition Education

Tyonek community members have many opportunities to learn and teach about methods for preserving fresh foods and incorporating them into healthy and locally sourced meals, reducing the economic burden and uncertainty of ordering foods shipped in from Anchorage while also working to improve health outcomes. TTCD organizes several educational events and local food celebrations each year including canning and food preservation workshops, garden blessings and harvest parties.

The primary audiences for educational outreach are the students at Tebughna School, Youth Interns, and Tyonek Garden Club members. TTCD has routinely partnered with Tebughna School (grades PK-12) to involve Tyonek youth in every stage of food production in both winter and summer, as well as post-harvest processing and nutrition education. Since 2014, TTCDs Youth Internship program has employed as many Tyonek youth as possible each summer to support the farm and garden operation. These internships have provided an opportunity for Tyonek youth to spend their time productively, begin professional development, and earn money for their families and futures. This effort is also aimed at increasing local capacity and familiarity with farming systems to continue building local competency and improving resilience to potential climate, global, and social disruptions. Lastly, local residents benefit from 14 community raised beds that provide free gardening space to local residents and households. These community members receive free access to compost, seeds, and gardening support throughout the summer to ensure success and improve local gardening knowledge.

Students, Youth Interns, Garden Club members, and other interested residents are collectively trained in best practices for gardening, harvesting, food preservation, and hydroponic production creating a ripple effect of positive impact on community dietary preferences. These training opportunities create cohorts of community members who socialize and share ideas while providing food for Elders, youth, and community members in need.