A community-led programme will wield economies of scale to support local growers and boost Dunedin’s food resilience, an organiser hopes. Our Food Network is seeking expressions of interest for a six-month pilot programme intended to connect households and growers, with a long-term view to shift the city’s reliance away from imported produce. Project manager Angela Howell said the pilot would establish demand for the supply of locally produced goods such as fruit, vegetables, fish, milk and honey. ‘‘We're looking at 100 households because it needs to be manageable but also it needs to be enough of an economy of scale that we can cover the overheads.’’ Neil Robinson, owner of Garden to Market farm business, at his plot in Outram. PHOTO: GERARD O’BRIEN A fully implemented programme would involve guaranteed weekly purchases from local producers, allowing them to plan ahead and providing steady income to invest in their operations. A similar proposal several years ago petered out after a feasibility study found there was not enough local food production to support a co-op. ‘‘That can't be where we stop because we need to solve this problem,’’ Ms Howell said. ‘‘We need to create local supply and the only way we can do that is by paying producers to create food for us locally.’’ The pilot targeted households not already shopping local but which were eager to be part of a solution, she said. ‘‘It's going to be like a community of 100 households working to solve our food resilience issue.’’ Grower Neil Robinson said the pilot was a good opportunity to develop a new market for local goods. He operated his business Garden to Market from an Outram plot and said it was important to have local farms which could consistently deliver regardless of global events. ‘‘We want to support Dunedin and ensure that there's the freshest food available and to make sure that people have got that option available to them. ‘‘That's not just things from the supermarket that may be imported or flown in from the North Island.’’ Further details on the pilot are available on Our Food Network’s Facebook page. ruby.shaw@odt.co.nz
