Ever wonder how Jan makes a chowder with such depth of flavor? Or how your neighbor’s dog became so glossy and lustrous? These might be a few signs that your friends and neighbors are using 100% of their catch. We have all heard stories from folks with their own unique use for their salmon. Homer Drawdown is collecting this community wisdom, breaking down the steps, and sharing it all with artistic flair and cute illustrations for everyone to benefit.
Meet the No Scrap Wasted Learning Series. With help from local artists and Rosalie, our summer intern, volunteers have authored six pocket-sized pamphlets on a range of topics to help us all reduce food waste and eat well along the way. Once the salmon run begins, so does the effort to fill the freezer and make the most of nature’s bounty. The tide of delicious, accessible seafood washes over us. It can be a little overwhelming and requires time and attention to make sure we leave No Scrap Wasted.
Do you have a puppy companion? Check out Carcasses for Canines, possibly the most adorable way to waste nothing and spoil your furry friend. Get ready for the next cookoff or potluck with the salmon cake recipe in Spooned Salmon. Learn some French with the fumet recipes in Salmon and White Fish Stock. You could try Seafood Sinigang, a traditional Filipino soup, made with your salmon heads and carcasses. It’s easy to substitute your own garden or foraged foods following the Sinigang method as well. Making caviar from your salmon roe is simpler than you might think, and a sure indicator of your Alaska clout. These little pocket pamphlets, or ‘zines,’ are free to use and distribute however you choose.
You can find the latest No Scrap Wasted zines in PDF format here, on the Drawdown drive. These can be printed as many times as you like. Cut each page width-wise, set the bottom half inside of the top half, fold down the middle, and you’ve made your first zine! Keep an eye out for them around town as well.
Life in rural Alaska frequently comes with the added financial and carbon cost of shipping. Luckily, dinner might swim right into your dip net this time of year. These booklets are designed to encourage everyone to use their whole catch and are tailored to produce edibles that will last in your root cellar or pantry. There are plenty of ways to make your kitchen more economical and eat well at the same time. We hope you enjoy exploring the connections between traditional and modern foodways, and find new ideas to make life more delicious.
Want to help us all live and eat better? We are looking for more locations around town to host a little box of No Scrap Wasted zines. We would love to hear about your tips and tricks for dehydration, sun-drying, and smoking as well. Join us in the effort to reduce food waste, and enjoy local flavors as we focus on preserving the health of our shared environment. Get in touch with ideas, tips, or tricks at aaron@inletkeeper.org. Of course, everyone is welcome to join us for our next Homer Drawdown group meeting on Thursday, August 6th, at the KPC K-Bay campus. We will share a meal at 5:30pm and begin the meeting at 6.