Living the change

/in ,

A new film shines the spotlight on our organic and sustainable heroes. Philippa Jamieson finds out more.

We hope you enjoy this free article from OrganicNZ. Join us for access to exclusive members-only content.

Climate change… la la la la la. Environmental destruction – I know, it’s terrible! Social breakdown, economic collapse, help, what do we do? Living the Change is a documentary that features courageous Kiwis with practical solutions to these massive problems.

Voluntary simplicity

Filmmakers Antoinette Wilson and Jordan Osmond are themselves trying to ‘live the change’, in a 20m2 room at the end of a shed on a friend’s land near Katikati. The place isn’t plumbed; they have a bucket and use rainwater, but it’s palatial by comparison to where they were.
The pair met three years ago at a year-long community project in Victoria, Australia, learning how to live simply, grow food and build tiny houses. Jordan filmed the project and A Simpler Way was the documentary that resulted.

In high school Jordan became fascinated by the impact that documentaries can have. “Food Inc had a big impact on me – I changed my diet a bit,” he says. The self-taught filmmaker began making short films on tiny houses and earth building.
Antoinette was working at Wairarapa Eco Farm when she applied for the tiny house community project. After living in Argentina for six years, she had moved back to New Zealand for a healthier life.
“I’ve had gut problems for most of my life, and these were exacerbated in Buenos Aires, which isn’t a great place to find healthy food. In 2007 I went online and by a stroke of absolute fortune I discovered Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions. Blew everything out of the water for me.
“I became interested in everything, not just food, but the paint on the wall, the clothes on my body, the creams I was putting on my face.”
After the simple living project, Antoinette and Jordan travelled around Aotearoa New Zealand for two years making a series of short films about permaculture and resilient living. Out of these grew Living the Change.

Organic, holistic and permaculture growing

About a third of the film relates to food in some way.
“One of the biggest changes people can make is food: what we eat, who we buy it from,” says Jordan. “Organics, growing your own, supporting regenerative agriculture is the way of the future. Pouring pesticides on the land has to stop.” Jordan reacts to the Hi-Cane sprayed on kiwifruit – not great when you live in the Bay of Plenty.
Growers in the film include Robyn and Robert Guyton (Riverton), Andrew Martin (Katikati), Wiremu Puke (Parapara Gardens) and holistic grazing farmer Greg Hart (Mangarara Station, Hawke’s Bay).
Andrew Martin swapped a materialistic life working in the finance sector in Sydney, for a simpler life in New Zealand. He now feels happier and deeply connected with the natural world at his permaculture property.
Frank van Steensel and Josje Neerincx of Wairarapa Eco Farm talk about their CSA (community supported agriculture), which connects farmers and communities, provides reliability of supply and income, and a sense of belonging and connection with the land.

Healing our separation from nature

At the root of many problems is our disconnection from nature, and one of several to articulate this is the only non-Kiwi interviewed, US author and thinker Charles Eisenstein. He makes a statement as a ‘degrowth activist’ just by wearing a cream-coloured jersey mended with red stitches.
“When we cut ourselves off from any aspect of nature, we create a wound,” says Eisenstein. “This is painful and we yearn to recover our wholeness. Due to ideology, the economic system etc., the reunion we long for is unavailable. This drives consumerism, greed, neurotic behaviours that seek to compensate for the missing relationships.”
“We are not separate from the wild world,” says Robert Guyton. “It’s going to realign us fairly soon… unless we recognise that we need to be fully integrated into that world.”

Financial collapse

The precariousness of the dominant financial system looms large in the film.
“There’s going to be a collapse in one form or another,” says Charles Eisenstein. “The money system demands endless growth.”
We have to design and develop an economy that operates within ecological limits, says permaculture designer Shane Ward. “That’s our only safe bet. It’s our only bet at all.”
Setting up alternative systems now will make us more prepared and resilient. Sharon Stevens woke up one morning with the idea of starting a local currency, and so LOAVES was born: Local Original Ashhurst Voluntary Exchange System. Also interviewed are Phil Stevens and Helen Dew, founding members of Living Economies, and Maria Lee of Diamond Harbour School, whose pupils were filmed making kale chips and broad bean dip from their garden produce, helped by locals paid via the timebank.

Reduce, reuse, recycle

Closely linked with the monetary system premised on infinite growth is rampant consumerism and the destruction of planetary resources.
Enter those down-to-earth Kiwis who are making a difference by going rubbish-free, such as Waveney Warth and Matthew Luxon. And the Bayswater Repair Café, where people fix appliances and bikes, mend clothing and furniture. The social connection is equally important; an older man reports a sense of belonging and feeling useful, passing on his skills.
We need to think ‘resource’, not ‘waste’. Wanaka couple Greg Inwood and Lisa Johnston show their humanure composting system, starting with a bucket, and emptying the solids into a compost heap with kitchen and garden waste. They monitor the temperature to ensure it’s hot enough to ‘nuke’ any pathogens. After a year or so, the beautiful rich compost is heaving with worms.
“I find it extraordinary – it’s one of the indicators of our disconnection – that we mix good quality drinking water with our shit,” says Antoinette. Composting loos “would be so much more cost-effective, so much less work for the council.”

Can technology save us?

Some people have faith that technology will save us. That we can invent our way out of the problems. So why haven’t we done it already?
“I’m not disillusioned with solar or wind or anything; I know that the substitution of those things for fossil fuels isn’t possible,” says Susan Krumdieck, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Canterbury.
“So as long as we keep telling ourselves the story that it is, we aren’t actually doing the thing that we have to do, which is just leave the stuff in the ground. Which means what? There’s only one thing you can do then, which is to use less of it. A hundred years from now, every solar panel we build will be toxic waste.”

This could be the best film you see all year. But don’t take my word for it; see it for yourselves.

Living the Change

Directed by Jordan Osmond and Antoinette Wilson
Running time 85 minutes
livingthechangefilm.com

A Simpler Way

Dir. Jordan Osmond, Samuel Alexander. View free online, buy it or host a screening: happenfilms.com/a-simpler-way

Philippa Jamieson is the author of The Wild Green Yonder: Ten Seasons Volunteering on New Zealand’s Organic Farms (New Holland Publishers, 2007).

How to grow olives

/in ,

By Denise Cox 

First published in Organic NZ May/June 2017 

 Olives (Olea europea) are evergreen trees native to Northern Africa. Cultivated since prehistoric times, olives are integral to the culture, diet and economies of the Mediterranean basin. Spain produces 45% of the world’s crop. Trees dating from biblical times still grow in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem. 

Although European settlers planted specimen olive trees in New Zealand in the 1830s, commercial olive growing didn’t begin until the 1980s, when cuttings were imported into Blenheim. The first official pressing in 1991 in Marlborough yielded a single supreme litre of extra virgin olive oil, spurring a modern-day gold rush.

The following content is only available to members. Join us for access.

The thorny problem of gorse control

/in ,

By Jeanette Fitzsimons 

Most of New Zealand’s pastoral hill country is badly infested with gorse. Brought by early settlers from the British Isles to make living fences for stock, in our climate it quickly spread everywhere. A small plant left alone can be a large bush in a year and a few of them can cover a paddock in five years.
It’s not a problem in a market garden or home garden or a cultivated field, where it is simply removed like any other weed. It is manageable in an orchard where the shading helps limit its growth. But in a field of grass it goes rampant. 
In an area you are wanting to regenerate with native forest it is positively helpful, adding nitrogen to the soil, shelter and mulch for emerging seedlings, and eventually being shaded out by the growing trees. That’s what we are doing on the 80% of our land that is too steep to farm sustainably. But having given up production on 80%, we want to grow some food on the rest.

The sci-fi world of targeted GE

/in

Dr Heli Matilainen explores the lightning-fast development of targeted genome engineering.

We have rapidly entered the era of ‘next generation’ genetic engineering (GE). The revolution in this field is largely due to the development and introduction of targeted genome engineering/modification/editing techniques.

These new techniques have been widely adopted in all relevant scientific areas at a very fast pace. Recent major breakthroughs and developments have enabled genome editing/engineering to get to the ‘science fiction’ level.

The following content is only available to members. Join us for access.

The millers’ tale: NZ BioGrains’ story

/in ,

Harry and Mary Lowe live and work in Ashburton and are stalwarts of the organic industry. They became involved with organics in the 1980s, established New Zealand BioGrains, a company that is still going strong, and are a fount of knowledge about the industry in general. Sandie Finnie takes a looks at their business.

New Zealand BioGrains is on West Street, Ashburton, hard left over the railway line if you are travelling north into town, in a former butter factory. On entering the building to meet Harry and Mary Lowe, two things assail my senses. There is a fine layer of white powder over every surface of the interior of the building, emanating from the milling process. There is also a healthy nutty smell.

NZ BioGrains began 30 years ago when six organic farmers and a seaweed harvester formed a partnership with the aim of pooling their grains and exporting them in bulk to Europe.

The following content is only available to members. Join us for access.

making organic food affordable

Making organic food more affordable

/in

There are ways to make organic food more affordable so you can buy more of it. Buying in bulk or direct from suppliers, buying what’s local and in season, buying ingredients rather than processed foods: all these will cut your food bill. So will growing some of your own food and swapping excess within your community.

We hope you enjoy this free article from OrganicNZ. Join us for access to exclusive members-only content.

Organic co-operatives 

Food co-operatives are groups of people who buy food in bulk at wholesale prices or direct from the producer.

Each month the co-op co-ordinator sends out a master order form that members use to place their order. The co-ordinator collates this together and places an order with the supplier via email or an online system. The co-ordinator then invoices members for their goods, adding freight, GST and sometimes a handling fee. Goods are delivered to a single location. There are different ways to organise dividing products up for collection by individual members.

Most food co-ops are supplied by organic wholesalers Ceres Organics and Chantal Organics. Product catalogues are available in digital form with hundreds of products on offer. Each catalogue is separated into two main categories; retail pack downs and bulk goods. Retail pack downs are small items boxed together in an outer or carton. For example, co-op members might divide an outer of 12 cans of coconut cream between themselves, or order a whole carton each. The catch is, your co-op can only buy a full outer.

Bulk items are large quantities of dry goods like grains, legumes, beans, nuts, and oil; think 10 or 25 kilo sack. Chantal also supplies bulk quantities of organic butter and cheese.

Going big 

Tash Robertson set up the Kapiti Coast Co-op eight years ago with a few friends. Now it has 150 members and Tash’s partner Nico Borren co-ordinates each order. It ran out of the couple’s lounge for a year until Nico sacrificed their garage. “Having space to receive and sort the orders is necessary for a co-op this size,” he says. An IT expert was also called in to create a custom online spreadsheet that streamlined ordering and tracking payments.

Co-op members pack their own orders and are encouraged to bring their own containers. This helps to reduce the workload and keeps costs down. People are also rostered on to help manage the stock and assist other members as they collect their orders. This keeps the shed running smoothly.

A second co-op formed in 2009 to buy fresh food. It’s also based out of Nico and Tash’s house but is run by an incorporated society. Some people are members of both.

“We’re not taking customers away from organic retailers,” says Nico. “Most co-op members couldn’t afford to buy organic at retail prices. Others choose to be involved with the co-op because they want to be part of a community venture.”

Small scale 

Bec Erickson runs a small co-op along with two other Gisborne mums. “While there are savings to be made in large co-ops, they take energy to co-ordinate. Keeping them small means less work. We take turns organising each order but if someone [is too busy], another person will step in.”

“Gisborne has a few co-ops and we all know each other. We often call on other co-ops to make up the shortfall on large items if we cannot buy it alone,” says Bec. This works well for butter and cheese in particular.

Eight years ago, Natacha Lee was looking to access organic food at a good price. Other local co-ops were not taking on new members so she set one up herself, rallying other like-minded people. She created a spreadsheet on Google docs, using a sample provided by a friend who had run several co-ops. “Co-ops are easy to set up if you have help from someone who has done it before,” Natacha says.

East Coast Organics has 28 members on its mailing list with an average of 10 people ordering every six to eight weeks from Ceres. After volunteering for years, Natacha suggested a $5 fee per member per order, which was happily agreed to.

“There are some limitations to this type of co-op,” Natacha explains. “It’s not beneficial for those who only wish to buy a few things, or those on a tight budget. Ideally you’d spend at least $200 each order as members that buy only a few products can get stung by the freight, handling and bank fees.” (This co-op divides freight costs equally between the members; other co-ops divide it according to the value or weight of each member’s order.)

You also need suitable containers and storage space for bulk purchases once you get them home. A chest freezer is useful for keeping meat and dairy but also for wholegrain flours, which can quickly go stale.

Other options 

There are several other options for sourcing organic goods if co-ops don’t suit or aren’t available.

There are currently 30 official farmers markets the length of New Zealand and many more local markets that also sell food. Look for certified organic produce or if that’s not available, ask stallholders if they are growing the food they sell and about their growing practices.

For locations, visit www.farmersmarkets.org.nz. 

Community Supported Agriculture 

(CSA) schemes share the risks and benefits of food production between producers and consumers. Members pay an annual fee to cover farm costs in exchange for a weekly supply of fruit and vegetables. Depending on the farm, it may also include eggs, dairy and meat. There are currently only two CSAs in New Zealand, Wairarapa Eco Farm and Puramahoi Fields in Golden Bay.

Brown Owl is an innovative development in Rotorua, a not-for-profit organic food club that provides weekly access to fresh and dry goods:

www. brownowl.nz

Online shopping 

The Internet is a great source for affordable organic food. Businesses deliver fresh fruit and vegetable boxes around the country and most offer extras like fresh bread and pantry items. Ooooby boxes are available in Auckland, Tauranga, Christchurch, Taranaki and Waikato; Harvest To Home and Naturally Organic deliver to the Auckland area; Mount Wholefoods delivers throughout the North Island; Fresh to U covers the top of the South Island; and Just Organic delivers nationwide.

Wholegrain Organics is a non-profit organisation based in Feilding that supplies fresh organic produce, whole grains, flours and pantry goods. NZ Biograins sell similar lines.

Bulk grains, flours, and legumes can be ordered directly from certified organic mixed family farms in Canterbury. Look up Terrace Farms (email terracefarmorganic@ gmail.com for a catalogue) and Milmore Downs (www.milmoredowns.co.nz).

Online trading 

Alternative currency schemes operating in local communities can also be a source of locally grown, healthy produce. There are several active examples around New Zealand, such as H.A.N.D.S in Golden Bay and EAST in Gisborne.

Gizzy Fruit and Veg, Warkworth Green Co-op and Realfood BOP are among dozens of Facebook groups trading, selling and gifting fresh produce in their local area.

Ripe Near Me is a website that connects growers and consumers: www.ripenear.me. 

Produce traded in such ways is very unlikely to be certified organic but because you are dealing directly with the grower, you can ask questions about their practices.

Do you have suggestions or comments about co-ops or other ways of saving money on your food bill? Please join in the conversation on the Organic NZ magazine Facebook page, or write a letter to the editor.

Saving money on your food bill

With some planning, you can stick to your budget and eat organic food on a regular basis. Instead of spending hundreds at the supermarket each week, we cut out the excessive packaging and processed foods in favour of buying bulk, making our own and shopping online and at our local farmers market.

We spend half an hour each pay day planning meals for the next week. This has transformed our budget and makes mealtimes less stressful. As we plan, we write a list for the farmers market and another for the supermarket. We spend most of our money on fresh vegetables, fruit, eggs and meat from organic producers at the market. We buy very little from the supermarket, with most of our dry goods ordered through our co-op. We set aside money each week for the co-op order.

Growing our own food also cuts our food bill. Start simple with a salad garden, and move on to main crops like garlic and onions. It all adds up.

Do you have suggestions or comments about co-ops or other ways of saving money on your food bill? Please join in the conversation on our Facebook page, or write a letter to the editor.

We have a formula that works 

Robyn Guyton says the Riverton Organic Food Co-op has the cheapest organic food in New Zealand. She was one of three young mothers who started the co-op, in the small, rural centre of 1200 people at the tip of the South Island. Now those babies have grown up and come to the co-op to shop too, with their own children in tow.

Co-op members have access to fresh produce, eggs, dry goods, meat and dairy. The co-op turns over $300K a year.

It started out as a classic co-op, with a typical problem: some people volunteered all the time, other people were always too busy to help. So now, some co-op members volunteer at a range of different tasks and every hour a person works each month is worth a two per cent discount off their food. Those people who are short on time usually have more money and are happy to pay the non-discounted price.

The food co-op is set up in a corner of the South Coast Environment Centre. The Centre pays the rent on the building and the food co-op volunteers mean that the Centre is open for 42 hours a week, substantially more than it would otherwise. It’s a win-win situation.

“The co-op’s organic philosophy is ethical rather than bureaucratic,” explains Robyn. They are committed to supporting local producers, which includes some BioGro and OFNZ-certified growers as well as passionate locals whose food is organic but not certified. The co-op sources further afield as necessary, from Christchurch, Nelson and also from Ceres.

“We rock,” says Robyn, with a smile. “If we can do this in Riverton, it can be done anywhere. We have a formula that will work in other small towns, but also in city suburbs.”

Set up your own co-op: Ten helpful steps

Established co-ops often don’t accept new members, or have a waiting list, because the group has found the optimum number of members for the way they operate. If you don’t want to wait for a spot, gather some like-minded people and set up your own co-op. Here’s what you need to know:

  1. Understand suppliers terms. Find out how often you are required to order, what minimum orders may apply, delivery costs and any other terms.
  2. Decide how the co-operative will run. Will one person co-ordinate every order and will they volunteer or be paid by co-op members? How will produce be shared out: will members be rostered to do this in turn, pack their own or will someone volunteer or be recompensed for doing this?
  3. How will you share the cost of freight: split between individual members or apportioned according to the value or weight of each member’s order?
  4. Must members pay in full before their order is accepted or will the co-ordinator be reimbursed once the order arrives? Be cautious about the latter set up. It can work, but is better suited to a small co-op between good friends or family members.
  5. Name your co-op. This is required for an account with suppliers and by the bank.
  6. Set up an email address and bank account. Having a separate bank account makes it easier to track payments. This type of co-op is not usually a legal entity, so your bank account will have to be in a co-op member’s name, trading as the co-op. Consider having more than one signatory to the account.
  7. Find a space. Think ahead: your delivery address needs to be easily accessible by a large vehicle and someone needs to be there during the delivery day to sign for the order. You need a weather-proof space big enough to divide, weigh and distribute the products into individual member’s orders. If you’re sharing out bulk purchases, you’ll need large, reliable scales that can weigh at least up to five and preferably 10 kilos, plus bags or other containers and marker pens.
  8. Set up a business account with wholesalers. Nominate a delivery address.
  9. Create a master order form using a spreadsheet. Check whether an existing co-op will share a template of their order form; you could compare several to get ideas. Google docs is a common choice, or any other spreadsheet program that is accessible to all co-op members and easy to use. Share the file online so everyone can access it. Using formulas to total quantities and prices saves time but make sure everyone accessing the spreadsheet knows how to use it (or at least, what not to change).
  10. Input products on your spreadsheet using the product description, unit size, quantity, unit trade price and case trade price for each item from the catalogue. You do not need to input or copy the whole catalogue! Keep your list simple and start with essential items you will buy every time.

Bridget Scully is a mother and a writer. She lives in Gisborne with her family and hosts a facebook group called Nurture Earth.

Raw cows’s milk for our baby grandson

/in ,
 Ethan aged eight months with two sources of nutrition: mum Carla, and Buttercup the cow. Photo: Janette Perrett
Organic NZ Magazine:
July/August 2016
 Author:  Janette Perrett

In the early days of the Soil & Health Association, consuming raw cow’s milk was hardly mentioned and didn’t make headlines like it does today, 75 years later. During that time the number of dairy factories in New Zealand has diminished from 400 cooperatives in 1930 to one major manufacturer, Fonterra, and half a dozen smaller companies dotted around the country.

The following content is only available to members. Join us for access.

Savings pools: interest-free loans and trading

/in ,

Frith Chamberlain outlines a system that uses money in a fair and reciprocal way.

We hope you enjoy this free article from OrganicNZ. Join us for access to exclusive members-only content.

In November 2015 I had the pleasure of attending New Zealand’s first national ‘savings pool’ hui. This was held in beautiful Opotiki and hosted by the wonderfully talented team at the Awhi Tautoko Trust (if you need some daily inspiration for your community spirit then look these guys up). We had a fantastic time with incredibly inspiring people where we discussed savings pools and where we see them in the future.

Pooling resources to help each other

For centuries, people have recognised the benefit of pooling their resources, through co-operatives, buyers’ clubs and investment syndicates. Savings pools, where individuals combine their savings into a larger pool of funds, can bring with them similar benefits. Members deposit funds into the savings pool, and then take turns to access the pool’s funds (to buy the fridge, the holiday or pay off a loan) on an interest-free basis.

There are savings pools in New Zealand and in other countries – for example, the JAK Members’ Bank, which launched in Sweden in 1965. There are around 30 pools operating in New Zealand at present, with more starting every year.

The basic operating principle of savings pools is that a member who uses the pool funds in the form of a loan is obligated to make available to the pool the same amount of money for an equal time period. Once this reciprocity requirement has been satisfied, the member is free to withdraw that money, or continue to leave any part of it in the pool. This ensures fairness and guarantees the continued availability of funds without the need for interest or fees.

Kiss that interest goodbye!

Here is a simplified example of what usually happens when dealing with a bank. An individual applies for a bank mortgage of $225,000. After 25 years of payments, they have a freehold house to live in. They have also paid over $225,000 in interest to the bank, with nothing tangible to show for this money.

An individual belongs to a savings pool and applies to borrow $225,000. After 25 years, the individual has a freehold house to show for the $225,000 it paid the vendor plus $225,000 in savings! This is called reciprocity, where you have lent this money to the pool to borrow from in exchange for no interest. At this stage the individual can either leave their savings in the pool (where they enjoy the benefit of helping others reach their goals), or they can remove this money and leave the pool.

Our savings pool

The savings pool I am part of has completed two loans in the year we have been together. We had the joy of paying off the remaining mortgage of a wonderful retiree. She is now paying her $10,000 loan off to us interest-free. The other $8000 loan has been used to pay the debt of a young family. This has helped to reduce the financial burden while one family member is fighting cancer. The family have used their caravan as security and are paying the loan off interest-free. After these loans are paid they then have the added bonus of knowing their savings are secure and available if required.

We are inspired by another pool in New Zealand that has recently facilitated a $200,000 loan for a mortgage, and hope to tackle some bigger loans for our members this year.

It is exciting to eliminate the amount of interest we pay, as interest represents an enormous waste, a constant flow of wealth out of our households and out of our towns. A savings pool is a way of conserving local wealth, where we all have something to offer and we all have scope for initiative and leadership.

Fair, transparent and member-controlled

Because members don’t earn interest on their contributions, savings pools are not money-making investments. The following key features, however, make them extremely effective cost-savers.

  1. No interest is charged for the use of pooled funds and no one creams off any profit, thus there is value and equity.
  2. Contributors themselves decide how their funds are used and purchased assets belong to the pool until they are paid for in full, creating control and security.
  3. There are next to no costs; members balance received benefits with matching contributions, and accounts are open to all members. This makes for a simple, reciprocal and transparent system.

Setting up a savings pool

Anybody can start a pool in New Zealand. It requires a group of like-minded people, good communication and some courageous forward thinking. One organisation that can help with this is Living Economies. The Living Economies Educational Trust is a nationwide charity dedicated to strengthening regional economies by conserving local resources, nurturing local talent, promoting regional self-sufficiency and developing community- and business-friendly means of exchange.

Organisations like Living Economies are not afraid to ask these probing questions: What if we could trade without paying interest? What if communities could replace debt-based money with forms of exchange involving no waste? They alsoeducate and inform communities and individuals (whether or not they are members of savings pools) on how savings pools can work.

Savings pools are legal – provided the pool members take care to ensure they abide by applicable legislation. Living Economies can provide information about the legislation that can apply, but its advice is necessarily general, and those involved with savings pools as members or prospective members, and persons considering forming a pool, should seek their own legal advice.

If you’d like to know more about the savings pool system or be part of one in your area, then contact either myself or Living Economies for further information.

More information

Frith Chamberlain is the chair of Soil & Health’s Mid Canterbury branch and a passionate believer in the savings pools concept. havelockseakayak@clear.net.nz

child and gourd

Local food and seed in Aotearoa NZ

/in ,

In 2012 and 2013, a team of New Zealand permaculture educators hit the road for an ambitious teaching and filming tour: the Localising Food Project.

We hope you enjoy this free article from OrganicNZ. Join us for access to exclusive members-only content.

They found a bounty of creative organising across Aotearoa, and captured the stories of 250 different local food initiatives on video. But they also found the networks often weren’t aware of each other. Now, they’re distilling a series of documentaries aimed at disseminating successful local models, and inspiring a more self-sufficient, food-resilient nation.

Local food trends in NZ

Nationwide, the Localising Food team discovered a strong surge of community gardens and farmers’ markets.

They were also pleasantly awed to find a newer community food trend taking off: the planting of fruit and nut trees in public spaces. A forthcoming documentary from the project will explain how various local councils and community members are working together to plant and maintain public food trees in their streets and parks.

The team also visited 50 school and preschool gardens, documented in the recently released film series Growing Schools. The doco shows the benefits of gardening for children’s motivation, academic success and overall wellbeing. It’s already attracting international attention, and is being translated into Slovenian, Spanish and French. The four-part series can be downloaded from the Localising Food website .

child and gourd
Amelia Ngātai, a student at Rhode St School in Hamilton, is going to save seeds from this gourd.

Where are the gaps?

Still, the team found plenty of gaps in local food resilience in New Zealand. Community gardens, while numerous, are not producing nearly the capacity of food that they could. Instead, they focus primarily on social wellbeing. Raw milk distribution networks are flourishing, but often in black-market-type situations, which are likely to be driven further underground when new regulations come into force in March.

In one of the biggest obstacles to national food self-reliance, New Zealand’s once-thriving mixed grain farms have largely given way to dairy monocultures. Grain processing equipment has become derelict, and certified organic grain processing infrastructure is particularly lacking. Investment is needed if New Zealand is to live on its own grains again.

Seeds of community

The team’s next documentary, soon to enter production, addresses a fundamental basis of food systems: seeds. Local seed-saving networks are crucial to our collective food future, as corporate control of seeds increases globally and biodiversity decreases. Around 90% of all seed varieties have been lost in the last 100 years, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. But unlike a monetary bank, a seed bank can’t function as a closed vault; as the Localising Food team is documenting, successful seed banks are living community networks, with social and geographic resilience.

As they travelled the country collecting seed savers’ stories, the Localising Food team uncovered common themes central to successful seed networks.

One lesson for seed saving is similar to saving computer data: back everything up! The Southern Seed Exchange’s Christchurch seed bank burned down, and is now replaced by a solid earth building. Thankfully, some of those seeds had been replicated and stored at Waimarama Community Gardens in Nelson. Mould destroyed seeds stored in an old wooden building in Dunedin; unspoiled ones were divided in half, with half stored at the Riverton seed bank to ensure a backup set.

Wanted: more seed kaitiaki

Dedicated kaitiaki (guardians or caretakers) are vital to the survival of heritage seed lines, but there is a shortage of such people around the country in comparison with the amount of genetic material that needs propagating and protecting. New Zealand has some excellent community seed-saving models in place, but many bioregions have no seed networks at all.

One of the most important seed repositories and distributors in New Zealand is Koanga Institute in Wairoa, Hawke’s Bay. Heirloom seed gardens are a core feature of this farm. Of particular note are the ‘isolation gardens’ in the next valley over – essential for crops that would otherwise cross-pollinate. Such geographical sanctuaries could become even more important safeguards against contamination if GE crops are ever allowed to grow in New Zealand. Other growers around the country also grow seeds for Koanga, acting as kaitiaki of specific crops.

However, one doesn’t need to go big to run a seed network; the main requirements are determination, love of seeds and good record-keeping. An avid seed saver in Port Waikato offers her seed locally through her personally handwritten catalogue and is only contactable for two hours in the evening by phone – no deterrent for her regular customers.

Using New Zealand’s leading seed savers as teachers in their own gardens, the Localising Food seed-saving doco will be a call to action and a lively how-to manual. The film, which will be released later in 2016, will strive to inspire Kiwis to save seeds locally, and will teach gardeners how to save their own seed and set up their own bioregional seed banks and seed exchanges.

Successful seed saving

  • Start in your own garden, and specialise in a few species to start with.
  • Save only open-pollinated varieties, and don’t bother saving F1 hybrid seeds; hybrids will not grow true to type.
  • Store seeds in a cool, airy, shady place.
  • Select your seed plants halfway through their growing cycle. Select the most robust, healthy-looking plants, not necessarily the biggest.
  • Label everything meticulously (species and variety, where grown, date harvested).
  • Design and position your seed bank to secure it against flooding, fire, etc., and double up your stock in two locations.
  • Keep tabs on dates, making sure you grow and refresh seed lines regularly enough to keep them viable.
  • Germination test if you can, to make sure you are distributing viable seeds.

Tips, vids, docos and more

The Localising Food website (www.localisingfood.com) contains a wealth of articles and video clips about local food production systems in NZ, plus free downloads including a seed-saving chart and 10 seed-saving tips.

Setting up a school garden? Download the project’s first documentary, Growing Schools, from the website. It’s in four parts (total running time two hours).

The Localising Food films are funded entirely by donations and sponsorship. To produce the seed and public tree crop documentaries, the team is running an online crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMe (www.pledgeme.co.nz) is seeking more sponsors. Can you help? Please contact localisingfood@gmail.com.

Robina McCurdy is director of the Localising Food Project, and has a diploma in seed technology and in permaculture. For 30 years she has been an international permaculture and organic educator-activist, with a passion for seed saving and food sovereignty.

Rebecca Reider is an organic systems researcher, writer and advocate based in Golden Bay.

tomatoes

Is your food being zapped? An update on food irradiation

/in ,

Organic NZ Magazine:

March/April 2016

Section:  Health & food

Author: Alison White

In New Zealand and Australia, herbs, spices, herbal teas, tomatoes, capsicums and a range of tropical fruit are currently allowed to be irradiated. Probably this year we in New Zealand will have an even wider range of fresh fruit and vegetables irradiated, imported from Australia and other countries. Organic certification standards do not allow food irradiation.

The following content is only available to members. Join us for access.