Food

The economic strain caused by the COVID-19 crisis is forcing more people to look for help getting basic necessities like food. 

Now that people are hunkered down because of COVID-19, more customers are buying groceries online — which isn’t possible for everyone.

“Decisions were made politically that they had their reasons for. But for us, it was a complete blindside,” said Jack Lewis, who co-owns and runs seven different Anchorage area eating places. “Nobody really was prepared for it, or saw it coming.”

A spokesperson for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management says it’s unlikely the coronavirus outbreak will cause a disruption to the delivery of goods from out of state.

The case shows how it’s become common for polar bears to disrupt village life in Kaktovik, which sits on an island at the edge of the Beaufort Sea. As climate change melts sea ice and drives the bears ashore, residents say they’ve been under increasing stress.

The Chatham School District superintendent says that USDA foods bound for a school in Angoon were stuck in a Juneau warehouse for weeks. The school reached out to the Coast Guard last month requesting they deliver those goods, but that request was denied.

“I kind of like spicy things, like chile relleno and some lasagna with a little zip in it, that sort of thing,” says Iditarod musher Linwood Fiedler.

As the shutdown in regional ferry service continues, private business owners in Southeast Alaska are trying to keep up with the demand as customers look for options.

From the Bering Sea to the North Slope, a take-and-bake pizza shop in Anchorage is flying pizzas hundreds of miles to the farthest corners of Alaska.

Below-average temperatures in Southeast Alaska have put a freeze on an important transportation link in the region.