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Who We Are

We’re Tairāwhiti's kai harvesting and sharing project. Did you know Tairāwhiti is one big giant food bowl? With a famously good climate and fertile soils, Tairāwhiti is a food production powerhouse. From juicy oranges to succulent corn, kiwifruit, apples, persimmons, grapes, kumara and field grown vegetables – our region grows an abundance of kai. We also have a massive food waste problem in Tairāwhiti with nearly 3,000 tonne of food waste produced every year! We work to connect generous tree and garden registrants with excess fruit and veges to volunteers in their community who are willing to pick and share it. No good kai should go to waste when so many people can use it!

 

The bounty from each pick (fruit or vege) is split 3 ways: ⅓ is provided to the tree registrant, ⅓ is split amongst the picking volunteers, and ⅓ is delivered to one of Gisborne's 8 pataka kai or community food pantries. We are also looking to expand our impact by partnering with local community organisations who can distribute food to those in need. 

 

“Kai is a great connector of people so what better way to positively contribute to the sustainability of food in Tairāwhiti, than to spend a couple hours with new peers in a joint effort to rescue and preserve kai to share?”

 

Our Mission

Aroha tētahi ki tētahi - care for one another in the deepest way possible.

Our mission is to harness the power of kai to create healthy, resilient, sustainable and connected communities across Tairāwhiti. We empower our people to pick and share kai that would otherwise go to waste while providing opportunities to connect more intimately with their neighbours, environment, and food system. We act as, and empower people to be kaitiaki of the land to ensure it’s benefits can be realised for many generations to come.

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Our Vision

We envision a Tairāwhiti community where everyone has access to the kai produced in this region, that there is a resilient, sustainable local food system that builds community, and is based on the value of shared abundance. To achieve this vision, we work to:

• Share kai to strengthen community connections

• Bring people together around the harvest

• Increase access to healthy, local kai

• Raise public awareness of Tairāwhiti's increasing food waste problem