Increasing Alaska’s food security

I grew up farming in Idaho. I developed a love for the hard work and long hours. The reward of seeing life spring from the ground each year made it worth the work. Besides, I got to drive tractors and combines. I moved my family to Alaska because I saw opportunities that seemed to be closing in Idaho. No, actually I just saw more opportunities to drive tractors and combines. I was a simple man, but life has a way of focusing ambition. Someone once said that God can’t steer a parked car and moving to Alaska put my life on a trajectory that kept us moving. Over the years, we raised broccoli, spuds (potatoes for you non-Idahoans), hay, hogs, and barley. 

In 2005, I was watching the news about Hurricane Katrina and the reporter said that someone had shot his neighbor for food. That statement shocked me and God started steering. I thought of how it took two weeks to get food in to New Orleans even though the breadbasket of America was just up the road. I wondered how long it would take to get food into Alaska if a disaster happened. I told my family that “someone” should start a flour mill in Alaska to increase our food security. 

Over the next few years we decided that “someone” must be us. Without getting long-winded, in 2011 we started a flour mill on our farm. Our goals were simple and they have focused our efforts since then. We want to increase Alaska’s food security. We want to create a new market for other farmers to participate in. We want to prepare our farm to pass it on to the next generation. 

It will take several more years for those goals to be realized, but while God steers the car, we still get to drive tractors and combines, so life is very good. 

Bryce Wrigley

Alaska Flour Company/Wrigley Farms