A Hastings man who has run a makeshift business picking and selling watercress on suburban streets for more than 30 years has been told to stop until he pays more than $600 of registration fees.
Hastings District Council sent a message to the man after a council officer “observed the activity” in Flaxmere near the shopping centre on April 23.
Jake* – who declined to tell Local Democracy Reporting his real name for this article out of fears of even more of a crackdown against him – says he feels betrayed by council and is just trying to make a small living putting healthy food on the tables of the community.
“Why do they want a cut of money I generated with my sweat to give the community the chance to put kai on the table?”
In an email to Jake, the council said under the Food Act he had to cease trading until he was registered as a National Programme 1 business with the Hastings District Council.
Council said a rough estimate of the set-up cost was around $619, with ongoing annual fees.
Jake says he questions why he’s only being asked to do it now after more than three decades of sales, and fears the domino effect registration could bring down upon him.
“All I’ve ever wanted to do was supply cheap, nutritious kai to whānau and friends.
“I like being legal, and the community has been amazing offering to help me pay [to become a legal operator], but what comes next?”
Brought up in a shearing family Jake says his uncle got him into picking watercress.
“I was about 13 or 14. I was from a big family and money was tight.”
He said his watercress gained popularity rapidly over the years to the point that he was supplying shops and some supermarkets.
“And then Covid hit and things changed. Everyone was selling it on the side of the road.”
These days Jake sells on the side of the road outside the Flaxmere shopping centre.
“I was parking in the carpark but was told by the council I wasn’t allowed to do that.”
Flaxmere Ward councillor Henry Heke said the man had been harvesting and selling watercress for years, and the community wanted it to continue.
“The question now is how can council officers support him. How can they help him understand why there are regulations in place regarding the sale of food?”
Heke said he had previously worked for an organisation that had helped and supported Ted Pardo, the fried bread man, through the same thing.
“It’s all about supporting local and supporting homegrown.”
The council says it has an obligation under the legislation to ensure foodstuffs that are sold are safe and suitable for people to consume.
‘No one has ever got sick from eating my watercress’
But Jake says he knows his stuff and has an EIT certificate to handle raw and cooked food.
“I’ve been doing this for years. I have access to farms. I never pick if there has been spraying nearby or if there are any dead animals nearby.
”No one has ever got sick from eating my watercress.”
He donates produce to local tangihanga and marae and says he’s by no means making large profits.
“It’s not all about the money. I have overheads as well and with a big family myself whatever comes in goes out fast.
“After working hard, it’s not easy work, including weekends and holidays and living cheaply for 30 years I have finally been able to afford a truck.
“I’ve wrecked several cars driving over farm tracks.
“I’m trying to better myself by learning te reo Māori and all I want to do is look after family and make the community happy by providing good kai.”
Registration to be a produce seller doesn’t apply to those selling produce at their gates, but is otherwise required, the council said.
Eggs sold at the gate need packaging that complies with the Australia New Zealand Food Safety Code to meet labelling requirements.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
