Grow it Local

Eastern BOP Kai Security, sovereignty & resilience

Broken Systems and Empty Plates

If you are here, you probably already know somewhere in your heart that there is something wrong with our current food system. In today’s world, the challenges of food security, fragile supply chains, and the environmental impact of industrial agriculture are more concerning than ever.

Personally speaking, I have always loved gardening and the magic of watching a tiny seed turn into something delicious. However a busy career put homegrown food in the background for a long time. The desire to eat healthy food never left but the search for delicious, fresh, local produce was disappointing. Readily available options lacked the flavour I expected. Produce came from near and far picked early, stored for months and ripened artificially. The same old varieties at every turn. Going limp, lifeless or rotten within days of purchase.

Food system issues became more apparent as COVID hit followed by a series of extreme weather events. The weaknesses of our current systems were exposed. In particular, the fragility of our food supply chains became incredibly evident as supermarket shelves ran empty or food could not be transported easily due to roads being destroyed. The cost of living sky rocketed and in our region where many already survive on very little, the impact has been high.

Time for Action

There comes a time when you can no longer sit back and wait for someone else to deal with the issues that you see in the world. When you realise that someone needs to stand up and make some changes. And that you are indeed ‘someone’.

So here I am, dreaming of fostering a thriving local food system built on placing people and the planet ahead of profits. For people to know where their food is coming from, how to grow it, harvest it and prepare it. Utilising growing methods that allow for food to be produced in backyards, parks, community gardens and public spaces. Spaces where food, skills and resources are shared freely. And perhaps most importantly, I envision a community that grows and thrives alongside the plants.

It is an extraordinarily big task, so where do we start?

Starting Small

In my experience, the key to any major undertaking is to start small and grow and I’ve heard from plenty of experts who agree. After all “from little things, big things grow”. So while Grow It Local has lofty long term ambitions, time, resources and long held wisdom dictate that the project will be starting with the little things.

Initially the focus will be in three key areas which are outlined below.

It is a lot to achieve, especially with just a small amount of funding but fingers crossed that will change over the course of the year as we grow and develop more products to sell, seek further funding and gather support from all the wonderful people out there who believe that we deserve a functioning food system where everyone deserves delicious, healthy food on their plates at every meal.

Community

Bringing together people with a similar vision of reducing food insecurity and producing delicious local food. Identifying skills, resources and needs throughout the community and playing matchmaker. This will include things like food rescue, cooking classes and working with community gardens.

Education

Utilising social media to share information relating to food and food systems. This will include how to grow, harvest and prepare fresh produce, the location of local food banks, community gardens and meal providers, event details for farmers markets and crop swaps and information about food related topics like growing methods, food sovereignty and other systemic issues.

Food Production

Growing not only food but also food producing plants. Expanding the current plant nursery to grow as many locally adapted food producing plants as possible. Get these plants in the ground throughout the region (and the country) through sales nationwide and through donations to local community gardens, schools, marae and other public planting projects.

Get Involved!

If you would like to help spread the word or be more involved in supporting this project, we would love if you would do one or more of the following to help us out.

Join our email list


Follow

Follow on Social Media. Our main content platform is Instagram @freshperceptions or you can find the same content on Facebook @freshperceptionsnz. As we grow, all our location specific content for those in the Eastern BOP will be found on Facebook @growitlocalnz. We will also be launching a YouTube channel so keep an eye out for links to that.

Contact

If you have more than a passing interest in improving our local food systems and would love to be more directly involved in this project then please email nikki@growitlocal.co.nz. I am in the progress of forming a small network of people to help drive the project and help from passionate individuals is always appreciated.

Resources

Do you have resources and skills to share and live in the Eastern BOP region? I would love to hear from you (email nikki@growitlocal.co.nz)! Especially if you have access to or know of anyone with:

  • Mature fruit and nut trees that we could collect seed/plant material from for propagation, or excess produce that goes to waste that we could rescue (labour for picking provided).
  • Knowledge of preserving fresh produce (canning, drying, etc)
  • Experience growing food organically
  • Land that would be suitable for food production that is currently under-utilised. Anything from a small vegetable garden to a neglected orchard would be of interest.

And perhaps most importantly – SHARE! Share on social media, forward emails, tell your friends. The bigger the community, the faster we can grow and the bigger the impact we can have.

If none of these seem to tick the right box for you, but you still want to get in touch feel free to reply to this email or to jump on social media and send me a message. My inbox is always open and I would love to hear from you.

Let’s work together on your
next garden or landscaping project

If you have always wanted fresh produce in your backyard or have a land that would benefit from some awesome edible landscaping, please get in touch. We are always looking for ways to help people get started.