The Chaga Co-operative began in 2018 as a mission to explore the Northern forests and bring its incredibly important medicines to the public. After working for careless and greedy foragers, we decided to provide a decentralized distribution and processing network for individuals interested in foraging food medicines in a sustainable manner. We provide high paying jobs to those who are aligned with our passion and integrity, and exist purely to support the harvester, providing them with the means to process and sell their harvest. The harvester is entitled to the majority of the profit since they are doing the majority of the work. By continuing to help with processing and the maintenance of our shared facility, a harvester can earn up to 75% of the final product sale. Any remaining profit that the co-op earns goes directly to the maintenance of the distribution network such as licenses, insurance, facility rental, DEC permits, and last but not least, education.

Educating the public on edible species from the forest is of the utmost importance. We host the Fairbanks Fungi Festival, and host community workshops and collaborations.

Alaska is highly abundant in foods and natural medicines of many kinds.  Our mission is to make them available to those who need them most, at fair rates. We support students and young entrepreneurs like ourselves, creating the resources we need to build better communities. Our members have gone off to build wonderful businesses after being supported by our network.

The Chaga Cooperative also wants to protect and promote awareness of Alaska’s incredible natural resources, which are threatened by a rapidly changing climate that we experience exponentially more in the North. We are beginning to organize our observations and conduct research with the help of many wonderful scientists in our network. Expect this site to grow along with our journey.

The Chaga Co-operative’s mission is to provide high-quality Chaga and other foraged goods to the public while providing the absolute best paying rates to those doing the harvesting, while maintaining the highest ethical standard of respect for the forest. We work with companies, corporations, and villages to provide foods/natural medicines and economic opportunities to working families, students, and young entrepreneurs.

Our goal is to create a sustainable, statewide harvesting cooperative rooted in communal mastery of foraging wild goods. Every community deserves to have a co-op they can buy and sell harvested goods.

We value high paying jobs for our harvester and employees. We take pride in our equal pay for equal work model where we guarantee harvesters and processors up to 75% of profits on each final product sale.

Help support our mission by following us @ChagaCooperative on Facebook and Instagram. We are real people like you! Let’s connect!

We live and forage on stolen Native land. Fairbanks is the home-place of the Lower Tanana Denè. By knowing our history, we are creating a positive future grounded in mutual respect, anti-prejudice, anti-racism, and acknowledgment of all the people, animals, and organisms that steward our Earth.

Give us a phone call at (907) 347-4989

Send us an email message through our Contact Form