Pedaling for Produce

Sitka Seafood Market is proud to support FairShare CSA Coalition's 15th Annual Bike the Barns — a day-long fundraiser full of community fun, local food, festive music, and farm tours.

FairShare is a Madison, Wisconsin-based non-profit with the mission to support and connect farmers and eaters through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).

Bike the Barns is FairShare CSA Coalition’s largest annual fundraiser and is designed to help families in need afford farm-fresh veggies.

Sitka Seafood Market has a longstanding partnership with the organization as a nod to the CSA roots that served as the blueprint for our direct-to-consumer seafood boxes. FairShare and Sitka Seafood Market share a deep conviction that food tastes better and is better when you know where it comes from. What’s more, we believe that sustainable communities are the backbone of strong local food systems.

“Bike the Barns is a really exciting fundraiser because it helps make healthy, local foods more accessible,” says Sitka Seafood Market Communications and Community Manager Emma Bruhl. Growing up in Alaska where foraging, fishing, and gardening are mainstays of rural culture and cuisine, Emma feels strongly that, “Nourishing local foods are all around us — everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy them.”

This year's event raised a record-breaking amount of over $58,000 for fresh food for every family.

Bike the Barns is FairShare CSA Coalition’s largest annual fundraiser, designed to help families in need afford farm-fresh veggies and access food grown right in their community by a local CSA farmer. Proceeds from the event benefit FairShare broadly, as well as their Partner Shares Program specifically, which envisions a future where all families have access to locally-produced, organic food from small-scale farms.

Bikers visited Crossroads Community Farm, Farley Center, Prairie Bluff Farm, and Snug Haven Farm.

This year’s Bike the Barns brought together over 800 bike riders, 50 bus riders, over 80 volunteers, 24 food and beverage partners, 4 host farms, and 17 FairShare farms that donated produce to the event. The event raised a record-breaking amount of over $58,000 for fresh food for every family, and even more in general event income to support FairShare's mission of supporting small-scale farmers and connecting them with our community of eaters.

FairShare CSA Coalition's work is supported by our members through our 1% For the Wild Fund.