Farmers in Alaska Can Harvest Food that Has Historically Been Difficult to Grow
by Andreína Barreto Jové, Huella Zero
In the last 20 years, the number of farms in Alaska has doubled, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The Earth’s ecosystems are threatened by climate change, due to intense droughts, water shortages, severe fires, rising sea levels, floods, melting of the poles, catastrophic storms, extreme heat waves, and the decline in biodiversity that it causes.
In Alaska, one of the states most affected in the United States as a result of global warming, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), a particular situation is occurring for agriculture.
Eva Dawn Burk, a community food activist and student of sustainable agriculture at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, is an Alaska Native from the city of Tanana.She told KTOO that one of the most notable effects in the state is the rise in temperatures at various times of the year: milder summers and the arrival of frost are prolonged.
This, according to the expert, has a negative impact on the migration of species such as reindeer and caribou, which are traditionally hunted by local indigenous people for their subsistence. However, she clarified that the milder winters and hotter summers in Alaska have resulted in crops and harvests remaining in the fields for longer, which is promoting agriculture in various locations.
This change in temperatures in the last decade has marked a milestone in the way agriculture is worked in Alaska, because recently it is possible to harvest foods that were previously difficult to obtain such as tomatoes, corn, peppers, artichokes, cabbages, potatoes, among others.
“Now in Fairbanks we can successfully grow fresh vegetables, which I don’t think would have been possible 30 or 10 years ago,” said Glenna Gannon, a professor of sustainable food systems who leads crop trials at UAF.
In the expert’s opinion, what was once considered a “small agricultural sector” is now growing rapidly. Gannon said that the number of farms in Alaska doubled in the last 20 years, because in 2002 there were approximately 600; while in a census carried out in 2022, more than 1,200 were registered. The situation shows the effects of climate change on Earth. What do farmers think? Gatgyeda Haayk, a farmer and instructor for the Indigenous-led agricultural training program at Calypso Farm and Ecology Center in Fairbanks, said most farmers remain wary of the possibility of farming in Alaska for extended periods of time.
Likewise, Haayk considered that one of the best ways for Alaska’s indigenous residents to adapt to climate change is to learn about the agricultural industry, because Alaska Native people represent about 17% of the state’s population. To conclude, research conducted at the University of Alaska Fairbanks predicts that the growing season could lengthen by even months by the year 2100 and match current thermostats as those in Kentucky or Kansas.