A new scheme aims to cut out supermarkets and get fruit and vegetables grown next door or down the road onto people's plates.
A group of agencies in Wellington is working to produce direct from local growers and create an online platform where shoppers can bypass big mark-ups and eat seasonally too.
The process starts at lush urban farm Kaicyle, tucked down a side street in inner-city Wellington.
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Silverbeet, celery, baby carrots and spring onions line the garden surrounded by the industrial warehouses and carparks of Newtown.
"It's winter so it's slow season but we grow all sorts of different things, but we try to grow things that people want," co-manager Ellie Clayton told Checkpoint.
"At the moment we've got heaps of silverbeet, and just a great, cheap staple for people."
The farm is one of several in the Wellington region participating in the pilot, co-ordinated by Wesley Community Action, Kaibosh food rescue and Health NZ - which aims to put local produce on people's plates at an affordable price.
Growers in Kāpiti and Horowhenua are also part of the scheme.
"It's great for local growers because it means we can just harvest what's needed and what's been ordered, and then we can get this really great fresh Kai that we are harvesting on a Thursday morning, and people can pick it up on the Thursday morning, and cook it for Thursday dinner," Clayton said.
Co-manager Ellie Clayton. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Kaibosh Food Rescue Wellington city operations manager Luke Campbell said his team were "the wheels" of the operation.
Drivers from food-rescue charity pick up the orders as part of their regular routes and deliver them to packing hubs around Wellington, the Wairarapa and the Kāpiti Coast.
"We've got a mission of zero food poverty and zero food waste, and so anyway we can help facilitate that, that's what we do.
"So connecting food, with the people that need it. Nobody wants to grow food or sell food or be part of food and see it go in the bin."
Kaibosh Food Rescue Wellington city operations manager Luke Campbell. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Ten minutes away, volunteers are busy filling boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Wesley Community Action's co-ops co-ordinator Cory Hope was rummaging through some of the days offerings.
"These are daikon radishes, so this is something we try to introduce because they actually grow really well, they're really healthy, and they're really versatile.
"You can cook them, you can have them raw, I like to make a pickle out of them. [We've got] your classic kiwi fruit from up north, kūmara from up north as well."
Hope said the social agency already had a co-op scheme which provided $15 boxes of produce to participants, and about six tonnes of produce was delivered to 1100 families each week.
The new pilot - jointly organised by Wesley Community Action and Health NZ - allows shoppers to hop online, on a platform called Coshop, and buy what they want.
Wesley Community Action's co-ops co-ordinator Cory Hope. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Local growers set their own prices, but Hope said the boxes run cheaper than the supermarkets with packing done by volunteers, and distribution done by the food rescue.
"Most of the mahi is done by our fantastic volunteers, and we only charge a levy to cover administrative and freight costs.
"That's it, there's no profit involved at all. So generally we run about 15 - 25 percent cheaper than the supermarkets," Hope said.
According to Ministry of Health data from 2023-2024, one in four children live in households where food has run out often or sometimes.
One in two Pacific and one in three Māori children were living in households where food ran out sometimes.
26 percent of children lived in households where they often or sometimes ate less because of lack of money.
Hope said regional food resilience needed a boost - but it was hard for local growers to build a market channel for their goods, and currently difficult for people to access local produce at an affordable price.
"They have an income, you might have a job, but it's tricky to make ends meet each week. So buying affordable access to fresh healthy kai, hopefully that will leave a few more dollars in people's pockets to spend on bills or something else."
The pilot finishes at the end of August, but Hope said the goal was for the model to be replicated and expanded throughout the city.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
