As high food prices continue to bite, the Westland District Council is reviewing public land that could easily be converted to community gardens.
The initiative by Poutini Waiora’s Hokitika-based Te Tai Poutini Kai Puku Food Hub was endorsed by councillors at their last meeting.
Council chief executive Simon Bastion said a full review of council reserves was being done as part of its planning.
Land that could be "converted tomorrow" into public gardens would be identified at the same time.
However, it would require community buy-in.
Deputy mayor Ashley Cassin said he was aware of at least three keen South Westland communities, while Westland Mayor Helen Lash said she had already had discussions with Hokitika businesses wanting to get on board.
"I’ve had some discussions with different businesses around town already as far as working on the ground — with digging it up, fertilisers, and soils all being offered for donation, as has the ability to donate timber for raised beds, so there is a lot of resources that are happy to be donated to this project," Mrs Lash said.
In a presentation to councillors last week, Kai Puku Food Hub project lead Jade Winter said in the first nine months of being in operation, the organisation — the first of its kind on the Coast — had rescued 36tonnes of perfectly edible food that would have otherwise gone to landfill and re-distributed it to homes in need.
The food hub was opened in the former Hokitika SPCA centre in August last year, following years of research around food security and sovereignty by Ms Winter, a former nutritionist for the District Health Board.
Part of her research with the University of Otago included interviewing the Coast’s most vulnerable households.
She also visited all Coast supermarkets as part of its annual food survey, which found food prices were up to 4% higher than other regions.
"So it’s not just anecdotal. It’s not just people feeling the burden; it is true, so we do have that added complexity here," she said.
The hub — which rescued food from mainly supermarkets both regionally and nationally, and passed it on to social agencies for delivery to those that needed it — had recently branched out to the education sector, Ms Winter said.
More and more children were arriving to schools without food, she said.
From Westland, Kai Puku Food Hub was largely seeking some policy development and implementation, with edible planting at the forefront of planting in public spaces.
Support for a West Coast food security co-ordinator, in conjunction with the Buller and Grey district councils and utilising public land for community gardens, was also sought. — Hokitika Guardian
By Janna Sherman
