In early 2000, the Rotary Club of Belfast Kaiapoi, NZ, recognised that food poverty was becoming a significant issue for many in their community. So, the club set about developing a major project to seek out fresh food that could be obtained at minimum cost and distributed to the various foodbanks within Christchurch.
Initially, through friendly, local grower contacts, the club purchased 500 kilograms each of onions and pumpkins (second grade) on a weekly basis at 10 per cent of the normal price. Members borrowed trailers and delivered the vegetables in their own vehicles to four different foodbanks.
This soon expanded to include a weekly collection of 1,000 kilograms each of potatoes and carrots from a farm in Dunsandel, free of charge. Members with small-holdings and orchards regularly donated their products to foodbanks too.
As the club began to understand the food needs and how the various foodbanks operated, they concentrated their deliveries to one foodbank only, Foodbank Canterbury (FBC), from which the other foodbanks could draw supplies as needed.
To further support FBC’s needs, the club coordinated grants from five other Rotary clubs and, together with a district grant, helped purchase two trucks to collect a larger quantity of ‘close to sell by date’ food items from supermarkets that would have been dumped. In addition, the club purchased a smaller truck to specifically collect vegetables rather than using members’ own vehicles.
From April 2000 until December 2023, the club sourced and delivered 325,000 kilograms of second grade fresh vegetables that could not be marketed with a rota of 15 volunteers from within the club (40 per cent of its membership) – more than 1,000 volunteer hours per year. Other Rotary clubs also assisted FBC to pack boxes of food for distribution FBC was rescuing 1.6 million kilograms of food per year, but unfortunately closed in December 2023 due to a lack of grants from official sources.
FOOD FACT: Wasting food wastes all the resources used to produce and distribute it, including water, land, energy, labour and capital.
The Rotary Club of Belfast Kaiapoi passed over the vegetable source contacts to another major Christchurch foodbank with suitable transport so that collections could continue with their own staff and volunteers.
The club now concentrates its efforts on Satisfy Food Rescue Kaiapoi, where members collect donated food from local supermarkets three days per week. Around 50,000 kilograms is being rescued each month, which equates to 80,000 meals.
The club’s connection with fresh produce has not ended. Its major fundraising project is the annual growing and marketing of new potatoes for the Christmas period, from which a large proportion is donated to several foodbanks.
MAIN PICTURE: The Rotary Club of Belfast Kaiapoi coordinated grants from five other Rotary clubs and, together with a district grant, helped purchase two trucks for Foodbank Canterbury to enable volunteers to collect a larger quantity of ‘close to sell by date’ food items from supermarkets that would otherwise have been dumped.