Uplifting stories showcasing success, inspiration and possibilities. Video / NZME
Gizzy Kai Rescue has distributed surplus food to community groups in the wider Tairāwhiti and northern Hawke’s Bay for about seven years.
Its latest initiative in connection with Tairāwhiti Environment Centre sees them deliver the nationwide Every Bite programme to support their community to make changes at home to waste less food.
The Gisborne Herald spoke to those promoting this kaupapa as part of NZME’s On The Up campaign, showcasing stories of success, inspiration and possibilities.
Good foundations and collaboration have been key to the growth of a Gisborne-based food rescue organisation.
Local food retail businesses, orchards and packhouses support Gizzy Kai rescue with their surplus.
The organisation is also a hub for New Zealand Food Network, which has connections with food manufacturers to distribute large surpluses.
“We serve as the bridge between surplus food and community via our relationships with the community recipient groups we work with,” Beattie said.
They have recently run a pilot of Every Bite, a month-long facilitated programme which teaches households how to reduce food waste.
Volunteers and staff from Gizzy Kai Rescue and Tairawhiti Environment Centre. From left: Simon White (TEC staff), Steph Temple (TEC staff), Alena Swannell (GKR board member), Lauren Beattie, Michele Rodriguez Ferrere (GKR board member), Bex Baybrook, Jo McKay (TEC staff) and Huia Holden. Photo / James Pocock
It was created by the Zero Waste Network, a nationwide group representing community enterprises working towards zero waste, in partnership with the Ministry for the Environment.
“We caught wind of the Every Bite programme, took a look at it and thought it would be a really great initiative for our wider community, our households,” Beattie said.
Outcomes of the Every Bite programme pilot included saving time by having a plan rather than repeated shopping trips, saving money and wasting less.
“Our growers and producers take an amazing amount of care producing food in Aotearoa, so we kind of need to acknowledge that by using the food with intention.”
She hoped to see the community buy-in to the initiative so the small changes could begin at home.
“We’re hoping people who have done the programme can become advocates for it, then they share with their friends and whānau.
“The stats say it is over $1000 a year that most households waste on food. That could be a trip somewhere, that could be something special for your whānau.”
Beattie said they already had a relationship with the Tairāwhiti Environment Centre, which also had a focus on waste minimisation.
“It just made sense we worked together on it,” Beattie said.
“We’ve had the [Every Bite] pilot, which went really well so we are really keen to take it out to the wider community.
“There was really good enthusiasm with our first programme. It was really interesting, because we can all say ”we don’t waste food", but when you drill down and start measuring it, sometimes you get a really big surprise."
GKR has over 35 volunteers – from teenagers to retirees and beyond.
“I can’t stress enough how much the volunteers and the mahi they do with sorting out the food and looking after our space is a huge part,” Beattie said. “We couldn’t do what we do without their input, so we are really fortunate to have their dedication.”
It was “hard to believe” the group had been operating for nearly seven years through all the changes they had experienced.
“I think that is because we do what we do. We don’t get distracted by all the noise.”
They had gone through a rapid upscaling of operations through the Covid pandemic and Cyclone Gabrielle, but they had been careful not to overextend.
The growth had been the biggest change for her during her time as manager.
“We’ve grown the volume of kai and the volume of recipient groups, that was the intention, but the speed at which it happened was what was unexpected – having good foundations, our operating procedures, all of those things we had to make sure were robust to cope with all that growth.”
They met while working at a community organisation involving food support.
“We both had the same thoughts about rescuing kai,” Swannell said.
Rodriguez Ferrere said they realised it would be a big job to take on alone, so they got the help of family, friends and contacts in community organisations to start up what became Gizzy Kai Rescue.
“When I came to Gisborne, I started working in the orchards and saw how much food was wasted, so it was in the back of my mind. Also knowing how much was going to the landfill, I thought ‘what a waste, there are people going hungry’.”
They said it was “pretty cool” to see how far Gizzy Kai Rescue had come since those early days, and credited Beattie for a large part of that progress.
They advised people who would like to reduce food waste in their homes to join the Every Bite programme.
“Being in the food rescue and the chef food, I thought I was pretty good at not wasting food, and then I did the programme and it was a whole new level,” Rodriguez Ferrere said.
Steph Temple, hub co-ordinator for Tairāwhiti Environment Centre (TEC), said food waste reduction and education fit in with their mahi.
“We couldn’t do what we are doing as well if it wasn’t for the collaboration that we have,” Temple said.
“Collaborating on food waste reduction was an obvious choice for TEC. It aligns with our other waste minimisation mahi and demonstrates how partnerships can amplify our impact in the community.”
