Alaska Grown Challenge aims to get more people eating local

For nearly 50 years, Ben VanderWeele’s family has been feeding Alaskans.
“I just like growing stuff,” he said. “I like working outdoors and I like working with plants. It’s my life, it’s what I do.”
VanderWeele is a tenth-generation farmer, now growing potatoes, carrots and other produce on his 400-acre farm in Palmer.
He’s seen the difference the Division of Agriculture’s Alaska Grown program has made since it launched 30 years ago.
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