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David Cheezem's avatar

Living in Alaska, even on the road system like I do, I’m keenly aware of how fragile our transportation system is. We have a very active farming community here, but we need to support them more.

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Thalia Toha's avatar

Transportation is a big issue, you’re right in that, David. The farming community is one of the most heavily impacted by this. Curious, how have you seen farming/ transportation changed in Alaska over the years?

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David Cheezem's avatar

I don’t know. I think most outside groceries come up via barges. Whatever comes up via trucks will be hit by tariffs. There are more farmer’s markets now than 20 years ago. The other issue up here has been lack of year-round storage. There have been efforts to fill that need, but I’m not sure where we stand right now.

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Thalia Toha's avatar

That’s interesting, David. What is the reason behind lack of year-round storage?

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David Cheezem's avatar

I’m not current on this. Larger farms can afford their own storage, but there isn’t—or wasn’t when I was paying more attention— funding for cooperative storage facilities.

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Thalia Toha's avatar

Sounds like the co-op ones are predominantly community or regionally based? So the variation in storage abilities makes sense.

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