'Alaska Grown' vending machines break the mold

JOEL DAVIDSON

Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Imagine dropping a few coins into a vending machine, pushing a button and reaching down to grab a bag of locally produced cheese curds.

If the Alaska Farm Bureau has anything to say about it, Valley residents will soon see more than soda pop and candy bars in local vending machines. The new-look machines will carry a host of locally produced products, including bottled milk, Mat-Su baby carrots, Alaska water, birch syrup suckers and smoked beef sticks from Mat Valley Meats.

Last month, the Mat-Su chapter of the Alaska Farm Bureau ordered its first machine. The

organization hoped to have it soon enough to place at Palmer High School this year, but the shipment has taken longer than expected. Karen Olson, executive director of the AFB Mat-Su chapter, said her organization now wants to test the first machine this summer, at the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex.

During the Alaska State Fair, the group plans to place the machine in the fairgrounds, with petition forms for parents to sign if they want Alaska Grown vending machines in Mat-Su schools.

Earlier this year, the Mat-Su School Board discussed the possibility of putting healthier vending machines in Valley schools to help battle childhood obesity. School Board member Rob Wells raised the possibility of providing locally produced items and the Alaska Farm Bureau is hoping to tap into these ideas.

"In the Lower 48 there's a move to put natural and fresh foods in vending machines, but this one may be the first of its kind in the whole country," Olson said Wednesday, "because it will be restricted to Alaska Grown products only."

To distinguish it from traditional vending machines, the ones containing local products will be emblazoned with the Alaska Grown logos.

Olson said the idea first occurred when one of the farm bureau members discovered local milk vending machines in the Lower 48.

"We got to thinking about that and realized that there is really no place where you can buy just Alaska Grown products, outside of farmers markets," Olson said.

If all goes well, the group wants to expand beyond the Mat-Su to cover Anchorage schools and other potential outlets such as gas stations and convenience stores.

Bruce Urban, Wasilla's recreation and cultural services manager, oversees the Multi-Use Sports Complex. He confirmed having preliminary discussions about bringing an Alaska Grown vending machine to the complex but hasn't made any formal agreements yet. Urban said the sports complex already has traditional vending machines, but nothing that provides Alaska Grown products.

"I'd like to take a look at that," he said. "I'm in favor of anything that looks to be good for the public."

The individual products may be slightly more expensive than typical vending machine food but Olson said the selections will be high quality and extremely fresh.

"We have high hopes for this," she said. "We're trying to market directly to the consumer."

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266, or joel.davidson@

frontiersman.com.