Taste Home at the Hospital

People come to the Alaska Native Medical Center to heal, and the food we serve plays an integral role in that process. Our patients tell us they find comfort in our traditional food menu. Executive Chef and Director of Traditional Foods Amy Foote and her team rely on donations of local, traditional foods to create dishes for patients. Chef Nichole Thoms, newly appointed as the first Alaska Native Chef Manager at the Alaska Native Medical Center Kitchen, plans to expand Traditional Foods program. Chef Nichole celebrates traditional foods and the preparation techniques of her ancestors for herself and our patients.

“Traditional foods are nutrient dense, providing key sources of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and fiber,” according to Jessilyn Dunegan, Director of Clinical Nutrition. “Not only do these foods provide abundant nutrients, but they also provide connection to the earth, history, family, and culture. This in turn gives emotional healing that is needed to get our patients on their path to recovery.”

People from all over Alaska travel to the hospital in the state’s largest city, Anchorage, for therapies, surgeries, and other necessary care. The Food and Nutrition Services department prepares and serves nearly 5000 meals per day for patients, guests, staff, and the community, incorporating traditional and Alaska ingredients whenever possible.

Only commercially harvested Alaska fish and some cultivated traditional plants can be purchased. It’s illegal to sell game meat in Alaska, and animals like seal or whale can only be harvested by Alaska Native people with minimum blood quantum. The kitchen relies on donations from around the state for most traditional ingredients.

Chef Amy Foote, trained in butchering for restaurants and food service, turned to Alaska Native elders to learn the specific skills to process wild meat respectfully and ethically, so nothing is wasted. The kitchen uses edible organ meats and reduces bones for broth and salmon heads for fish head soup. Their policy is to use everything possible and to pass any excess on to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Alaska Zoo, or Alaska Raptor Center. Items that are unusable are returned to the land in a culturally appropriate way.

To donate your harvest or ask questions about traditional foods at ANMC, please call 907-729-2682, after hours 907-575-3486, or email NativeFoods4Life@anthc.org.

Top Traditional and Local Foods Donation Wishlist

Plants: Fireweed • Stinkweed • Pineapple Weed • Beach Greens • Beach Asparagus • Cow Parsnip Buds • Devil’s Club Buds • Plantain • Dandelion • Chickweed • Rhubarb • Crab Apples • Birch Sap

Berries: Salmon Berries • Blueberries • Cloudberries • Highbush Cranberries • Lowbush Cranberries • Soap Berries

Seaweed: Bull Kelp • Black Seaweed • Bladder Wrack

Meat: Seal • Moose • Caribou • Deer

Fish: Salmon• Halibut • Cod • Black Cod • Rockfish • Sheefish • Hooligan • Herring Eggs • Salmon Eggs • Salmon Bellies & Heads