Twice a week, ships from each of Alaska’s two ocean carriers arrive in Anchorage after a days-long journey from Washington state. They carry most of the food Alaskans buy at the grocery store on the road system and beyond. A dizzyingly complex network of boats, trucks and planes then carries food step by step from Anchorage into the vast reaches of the state. At the same time, other ships are heading to Southeast and to the Aleutians, trucks are coming up the Alaska Highway and planes are flying directly from Outside. All carrying the store-bought food we eat.
Every Alaskan eats. The people we elect this November will help shape our food systems — how our food gets here, what it costs and who can reach it. That’s why the Alaska Food Policy Council built an informational resource to help Alaskans see the roles elected officials play in our food systems. We are nonpartisan organizations, and we take no positions on candidates or ballot measures.
Alaska’s food systems are unusually vulnerable. You’ve probably heard the figure that 95% of the food we purchase is imported. No one has hard numbers, but no one disputes the basic premise. We do know our grocery stores only carry three to five days of food at a time. Disruptions from bad weather, ice, natural disasters, or mechanical issues happen regularly — we’ve all experienced empty shelves. Food insecurity is commonplace across the state and heightened in rural areas. And groceries cost more, too: A cart of basic groceries that costs $45 in Washington D.C., costs $55 in Anchorage, $75 in Nome and $109 in Iliamna, according to 2025 grocery cart project results.
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