OFN November Newsletter OUT NOW!
https://mailchi.mp/c44028b3eaf4/our-food-network-november-newsletter
Kia ora,
It’s been another busy month, and as we approach the festive season, it’s the perfect time to express our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all our contacts and connections for your support and encouragement throughout the year. We wish you all the best for the summer season ahead, with fruitful crops and continued mahi!.
This is also a wonderful moment for reflection. Our Food Network (OFN) has successfully hosted three Hui this year, providing opportunities not only for us to connect with you but also for you to connect with one another. We’ve seen valuable relationships blossoming, and it’s clear that the local food system in Ōtepoti is growing stronger. However, we’re not there yet—let’s keep the momentum going. 2025 is shaping up to be an exciting year! Watch this space.
Let us share what we've been up to:
November Hui Summary:
On Saturday, November 16th, approximately 40 people involved or interested in food resilience gathered for the Food Futures Hui, hosted by (OFN). The event attracted a diverse group, including local food resilience businesses, community garden representatives, well-established community groups, sustainability managers from tertiary education institutions, a DCC councillor and two local Members of Parliament.
The hui provided a valuable opportunity for participants to connect, network, and collaborate. It encouraged creative thinking and the development of actionable ideas to advance food resilience initiatives identified during the previous two hui.
Upon arrival, participants were each given a food item, which was later used in the “World in a Lunch Box” session. This activity highlighted how disconnected we are from where our food comes from , as participants often struggled to trace the origins of the ingredients that were in a product. It also underscored the significant volume of imported food products and the environmental impact of associated carbon miles.
Then we looked at who the key stakeholders are in the food system. In this session, participants were assigned roles within the current food system. In their respective roles, they discussed the resources and support they needed to succeed, then sought out those stakeholders who could best help them. Participants were asked to observe who had gathered the largest groups of people. Notably, the politicians and government agencies attracted the most attention, while the food-insecure stakeholders garnered the least.
We moved from the current food system to imagine what a resilient, abundant and fair food system could look like in 2040. Using a variety of materials including toys, greenery, paper, and magazines each group created a map of what Ōtepoti would look like if we grew everything we needed in this area. Key elements of each vision map were a more connected and sustainable food system, with a strong emphasis on community and abundant greenery.
A panel discussion followed, featuring five key figures from the food resilience sector, who were asked a series of thought-provoking questions regarding the current food system and its future. The panellists all agreed that the most crucial factors for achieving a food-resilient system were unity and shared values.
OFN concluded the hui by reviewing key topics and actions identified in previous hui, which were displayed on a whiteboard. Participants were invited to contribute additional ideas and express interest in specific actions by adding their names next to their chosen initiatives. Contact information was exchanged, and OFN is committed to following up with participants on their progress in due course.
Student Intern
Introducing Bella Tongxuan! Bella is a masters student from the Department of Food and Agriculture Science, as part of her studies, she is required to complete a 12 week internship. OFN has tasked Bella with a mapping exercise - where is everything related to increasing local food resilience located? Not only does it provide useful connections for us, it provides a one stop resource for members of the public to find community gardens, seed libraries, tool refurbishment, food assistance, community organisations and other networks just like us! Bella is making sure these details are up-to- date so that we can (hopefully) create an interactive, user- friendly electronic map in collaboration with the School of Surveying’s champions, Judy Rodda and Leonare Hafermann.
If you would like to be included on the map and can’t find your organisation on our resource page, please contact Bella at beito400@student.otago.ac.nz
Food Waste Blog
Have you checked out our webpage recently? Our Chairperson, Robyn Zink, attended the Food Waste Summit in October, funded by the Dunedin City Council. We have been doing a series of blogs summarising the discussions at theFood Waste Summit, take a look here:
https://www.ourfoodnetwork.org.nz/news
Village Agrarians
https://www.villageagrarians.org/
Village Agrarians are working for dignified and fulfilling livelihoods on land, for collaborative and equitable food systems, and for acroecological food production.
Check out their website for details of land sharing opportunities; including a directory of growers and land-based businesses and retailers; and links to job opportunities and events.
Village agrarians are currently investigating opportunities for a Local Food Co-op, if you haven't already helped with this important survey, please do so here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DunedinFood
Impact Consulting is “...currently investigating the potential for a Local Food Co-op in Dunedin (on behalf of Village Agrarians) and are interested in perspectives from anyone involved in the Otago Food Sector".
The survey only takes 12 minutes for growers and 3 minutes for everyone else. Your name will go into a draw for a $50.00 prezzy card.
It’s exciting to announce that the Community Fruit Harvest (CFH) is underway again for the 2024/2025 season. A collaboration of OFN and The Valley Project (TVP), the CFH has been a catalyst for positive change in Dunedin for nearly a decade, rescuing surplus produce from private gardens and orchards, and redistributing it to those in need.
This initiative aims to address food waste, enhance access to fresh, local produce, and foster community connections through the sharing of abundance. By leveraging an extensive and growing database of property owners, orchards, and dedicated volunteers, we efficiently harvest and deliver seasonal fruits and vegetables to street pantries, food banks, and partner organisations that transform the produce into baked goods and other consumables.
The CFH is looking for champions to help coordinate this mahi in the wider Ōtepoti community such as Taieri and Middlemarch. If you are interested or know someone who may be interested please contact: ourfoodnetwork@gmail.com
Keen to volunteer or have more fruit than you know what to do with??
Contact: harvest@ourfoodnetwork.org OR valleykai@northeastvalley.org
Support Group Formed!
Check out this message from the recently created support group:
At the OFN Food Futures Hui we identified the need for support and encouragement to grow food in our community and home gardens.
We have formed a support group that will get together to share knowledge of how to grow food locally, including community gardens, home gardens and urban market gardens.
Our first gathering was on Wednesday 27th November, 3 30 - 4 30pm, at the Tomahawk Community Garden in Ocean Grove. You can read the summary of the first support group meeting here: Summary of Tomahawk Community Garden
The next support meeting will be held at the Green Island Community Garden.
Date and Time TBC
For more information email suenovell@icloud.com
Upcoming Events
Regular work sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am till 3pm all year round. All are welcome to come for as long as you can/want.
The range of activities includes: vegetable gardening, plastic house management, orchard work, native plant propagation, maintenance of public reserves we have planted in natives and ongoing conservation planting on other projects. We also assist with the development of the mara kai, fruit orchard and native plantings on the Araiteuru Marae adjacent to the gardens.
Come and help us give donated tools some TLC before they go out to their new owners! Volunteers work together to make sure tools are in good working order before they’re distributed to people who need some resources in order to grow their own food.
Everyone is welcome to come and help as they can.
When: Every second Saturday of the month between 11am and 2pm.
Where: Skillsec at 14 Bridgman St, Kensington
In the Spotlight
Yours | ŌPCo - possibilities.industries
Yours is a worker-owned and managed café/venue that imagines a better food system and provides space for radical action, music, art and cooperation at 43 Moray Place, Ōtepoti.
Dylan from Yours was a panel speaker at our recent Food Futures Hui, the message was loud and clear:
Ōtepoti Possibilities Cooperative (ŌPCo) is organising to explore possibilities for a post-capitalist future through collective praxis now.
We're for everything for everyone
We're for doing it together
We're for solidarity and autonomy and equity and tino rakatirataka and ecology and experiments and fun
So:
We're not interested in "saving the world" because we love the real one.
So:
We're finding the cracks in the concrete
(There's treasure to be found in the blindspots of industrial capitalism)
We're leaning into non-market relations
(Other economics exist)
We're seeking productive justice
(Commerce without exploitation)
We're owned by the workers
(The members wholly and collectively own and operate this organisation)
We're doing it bossless
(We organise without hierarchies and make decisions by consensus)
We're waving the black flag
(Representing the political philosophy of anarchism)
We're trying some stuff out
(Learning by doing)
We know the possibilities are endless
Yours has started retailing some of its ingredients, so pop along to Yours they are open:
Wednesday & Thursday: 2pm -9pm
Friday & Saturday: 12pm-9pm
Sunday:12pm -6pm.
They have created a PDF that outlines their approach and food supply. Give it a read here: New World Zine
Upcoming events
Planning is underway for regular Our Food Network Hui and events for 2025. Let's keep our connections strong!
Keep an eye out for more information early in the new year. And don’t forget to check out the OFN calendar to see what is happening in the next few months. Let us know if you have something coming up that you want us to list on the calendar.
