As foodbanks struggle to stay afloat, a Lower Hutt community has turned to growing its own kai to feed whānau in need.
Seeds of Hope, a programme run by Oasis Church in Naenae and funded by local and central government, has built more than 200 garden boxes in backyards from Upper Hutt to Wainuiomata.
They feed about 800 whānau.
Jenny Frank’s lawn has six garden beds, which grow kai year round. When RNZ visited in December, the silverbeet and lettuces were thriving, tomatoes were on their way, and pumpkins were planted ready for next winter.
A small portion of the produce feeds the whānau whose garden it’s grown in – like Frank’s – and the rest goes to foodbanks and food rescue organisation Kaibosh, to be distributed within the community.
“It’s actually great because they say to me things like, [to] quote the neighbour next door, she says, ‘oh, I’ve got a pot of mince on, I’ll just put those vegetables in there’,” Frank said.
“And she says ‘we haven’t had vegetables for a while because they’re so expensive’ … they tend to just stick to the meat and bread diet, so bringing the vegetables into people’s diets is really good and healthy for them too.”
Frank also benefited from gardening and giving back.
“It enlightens me to do this every morning for my own personal hinengaro [mental/emotional wellbeing],” she said.
“Going outside has snapped me into a routine of what I snapped out of, because I had lost a job and gone down to part-time work, I didn’t know what to do with myself half the time.
“Putting your feet in the earth and putting your hands in the earth, that’s just so good for your whole system.”
But the workload was not all on her.
Seeds of Hope has generated jobs, too – a ‘Garden Crew’ employed by Oasis Church with funding from the Ministry of Social Development’s FlexiWage programme.
The crew build, plant, maintain and harvest gardens across the community.
Sam Pedro was one of the original members, taking up the opportunity for seven months as a long-term beneficiary struggling to hold down a job.
“I was in a long stretch of unemployment mainly due to anxiety and depression, and when I joined the Oasis garden crew, when they gave me the opportunity, I slowly started to come out of depression and anxiety just through helping in the community,” Pedro said.
The mahi was hard – but it changed his life, he said.
“It’s the connections that we make in the community that really, really helped me break down my barriers of anxiety and just getting out there in the workplace.
“I’ll honestly be grateful forever to the garden crew for that.”
He is now a support worker and health coach at Emerge Aotearoa.
“I’m just helping people pretty much for a job now, and this [Seeds of Hope] laid the foundation for where I am today.”
The Ministry of Social Development said 10 former garden crew have gone on to secure sustainable jobs, and others had found volunteer roles with other organisations.
Meeting the need
Oasis Church pastor Daryl Green said the programme began two and a half years ago out of necessity, with local foodbanks overwhelmed and whānau going without.
“So we had a long hard think about what could we do to really bring sustainable change to our community,” Green said.
“It’s in our DNA to be hunters and gatherers … let’s go back to that and start growing our own kai again, feeding our people, teaching our people.”
The church team had to get creative: “We had a vision, didn’t have a budget,” Green said.
That meant putting the call out to the community for timber and seedlings, and using their own cars to combine the after school pick up with vege drop offs.
“When the community sees a need, it’s amazing how quick community will rally around and share resources,” he said.
Someone offered up their quarter acre section, and they got building.
“The first harvest exceeded expectations. And when we started giving it out and people were just like, ‘how do I get some of that?'”
As more of the community were being fed from the garden, the Oasis team began applying for funding to build māra kai at homes throughout the community.
“The reason we do that is … instead of having one big traditional shared community garden in one space where you would invite people to, we believe if someone invites you into their whare or their home, that’s really quite special because you don’t invite anyone over to your house,” Green said.
“To be invited into people’s section as such, to build on their home means that you get direct engagement with the whānau, mum, dad, nana, koro, everyone’s there, and it turns into this big whānau initiative or project where they’re growing their kai together.”
Those whānau could be proud they were providing not only for themselves, but for their community, he said.
“You sit with people, and you put a face to the need, and they’re telling you they’re struggling and they’ve got two jobs, and they’re working hard, but they just can’t afford it.
“And then you see them harvest their kai, and the joy that it brings them … that’s why we do it.”
The Seeds of Hope project partners include Kokiri Marae, Kaibosh, Salvation Army, Lower Hutt City Council, Pātaka Aroha, Tākiri Mai Te Ata Trust and Whānau Ora Collective.
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