Nutrition educators in Fairbanks, Tok, Anchorage, Palmer, Soldotna, Bethel and Juneau
provided nutrition education to 1,651 low-income youth and 501 adults.
Extension agents taught 62 food preservation and food safety workshops to 914 Alaskans
in 21 communities from Nome to Sitka.
Training
The Mining and Petroleum Training Service graduated 26 new underground miners and
15 new surface miners at its facility near Delta Junction. Eighty percent of graduates
are employed one year after completing a mine training.
Seventy-seven individuals in seven communities trained as certified food protection
managers through Extension’s videoconference training. The state requires at least
one manager on staff at all Alaska food establishments to ensure food safety.
Youth
4-H reaches more than 2,500 Alaska youth who participate in clubs, after-school programs,
school enrichment and camping programs. Five hundred volunteers support these activities.
Alaska FFA gained chapters in Tok and Seward and has 18 chapters with 330 youth interested
in agricultural education and leadership development.
Outreach
Extension has received a four-year $679,000 grant to help Alaska farmers and other
agricultural workers with disabilities. The grant is one of 14 awarded to Extension
projects around the country as part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s
AgrAbility program.
More than 80 presentations at the Sustainable Agriculture Conference in Anchorage
covered diverse topics, including seaweed farming, reindeer husbandry and gardening
in rural Alaska.
