waiheke

CSAs come in various flavours but essentially they involve a variety of partnerships between farmers and consumers, in which the consumers buy products directly from the farm, and pay for them in advance. Farmers do their best to produce food in sufficient quantity and quality to meet the consumers needs. Consumers in turn assure the farmers salary and in return receive a regular supply of a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits (in time we plan to include eggs, meats and possibly more). » Read more

There was a gathering in March, where a number of people came from all over New Zealand to share ideas for how to support the growing Transition Towns movement here. This 13 minute film is taken from 90 minutes of talks given on the first evening we were together. People were invited from all over Waiheke, and heard a wide range of viewpoints about where we are, and where we could be going.

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It was a 6 hour event from 10am to 4pm on Sunday and about 50 people came. The community feels like it is rallying around the ncessary work that has to be done. We spoke about the triple crunch challenges and then did a "dotmocracy" 'voting' to see which 3 topics would float to the top. They were transport, food and waste. Groups gathered around these and with the skilled facilitation of three people, some great visioning and planning and action steps were recorded. Here's the graphic which was created as we gathered, schemed and planned:

Here's the Gulf News report on it written by Minka Firth. » Read more

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/viva-magazine/news/article.cfm?c_id=533&object...

As an initiative that has grown out of the same understandings as transition towns and one that I have put a good chunk of time into, it's a delight to see the media grabbing Ooooby (out of our own back yards) and holding it up as a good idea. Fundamentally it is about offering and facilitating the increase of inspiration, resources and sharing for food growers and locavores.

The first Ooooby store opened on Waiheke on January 10th. And this article came out on Feb 5th in Viva, the NZ Herald insert magazine which comes out each Wednesday.

Did you know that in the past year food seed sales in New Zealand, Ireland, the UK and the States, for the first time ever, have out-sold flower seeds?" Pete Russell fires across the table at me. "There's been a 60 per cent increase on the previous year. Food growing is a mega trend."

It's a warm summer's afternoon on Waiheke Island. We're sitting in the shade of a giant willow tree, someone nearby is strumming an acoustic guitar, the vibe is mellow and serene, but there's no hiding Russell's passion about his latest venture Ooooby (Out of our own backyards) - a movement designed to support growing and sharing local food production.

We're at Ooooby central - a newly opened store and garden centre that is just one face of Russell's vision. It is a place where people come and exchange the food they've grown at home with food or seeds others have grown. There's the chance to also swap tools, attend workshops, buy plants, or simply sit and relax under the trees. Read on... » Read more