Q&A with Nourished for Nil founder Christina McBeth

Nourished for Nil founder Christina McBeth making up food packages during lockdown.

Food waste organisation Nourished for Nil has seen demand for its service ramp up since

lockdown. Napier Courier reporter Brenda Vowden caught up with founder Christina

McBeth to find out more.

How were the public and volunteers feeling leading up to lockdown?

I think there was a lot of apprehension from our volunteers because so many of them fall

into the over-70 age bracket, which meant they would no longer be able to help. Those
who frequent our venue were equally apprehensive because they were worried we wouldn't

stay open. But it wasn't long before it was clear our service would be classed as essential.

At what point did you start rethinking your operation?

We started about a week before lockdown, when we began

implementing social distancing during food distribution. We also changed our days of

operation, closed our Napier branch — which had only begun three weeks earlier —

and reduced our volunteer numbers.

With all the cafes closing, what ideas did you all come up with?

Cafes closing has been a loss because we get lots of delicious bakery and breads from

them but thankfully they are only a small part of the food we collect. If anything, since

lockdown we have received more food than we have before. For example local

businesses such as Phil's Garden, Reids produce, Ryan's, Bostock and Simply Squeezed

have really stepped up their donations. We are incredibly grateful to them because it has

meant food parcels have a good serving of fresh fruits, vegetables and smoothies. With

these donations we have also been able to support foodbanks, the Salvation Army,

Taiwhenua, and other food service groups as far north as Gisborne and all the way down

to Dannevirke.

Tell me how Nourished for Nil is running now during lockdown?

We had to change the hours of service to reflect a loss in volunteer numbers and because

we aren't collecting food from cafes or having to consider those who work from 9am to

5pm, we have been able to move our hours forward slightly. We are now open Monday,

Wednesday, Friday from 4pm to 5pm and Thursday mornings from 10am to 11am. During

lockdown, all sessions are open to everyone. Because we had to close the Napier branch

for the time being, we have collaborated with Te Taiwhenua, who are taking over that side

of food distribution for us. We realise this is a real disappointment for the Napier

community but it has been very much out of our control. We will endeavour to resume

distribution over there as soon as lockdown levels drop below level 2.

How does this work with volunteers?

To keep our volunteer numbers small we have created two non-overlapping teams of five

or six, which are a morning team working 8am until 1pm and the

afternoon team working from 1pm to about 6pm. This works very well and between us we

pack about 350 or more parcels a day. It's strange not to be working together but

desperate times call for desperate measures and this is what works best right now.

Tell me about the volume of food available?

Many assume that the quantities of donated food have reduced, but so far that does not

seem to be the case. We continue to get excess, unsold, imperfect produce and dented

grocery from supermarkets as well as pallets of frozens from local manufacturers. We also

received a lot of one-offs from restaurants, shops and fast-food outlets that had to

close. We are immensely grateful that we are able to provide an outlet for this food given

the times and uncertainty we are in.

Has there been any offers of food from unexpected sources?

Yes, fast-food outlets! Honestly I think that pretty much took everyone by surprise to see

them close. What pleased us though was these business opted to give us their stock

rather than throwing it out. Many said they felt this was a good way to support their local

community despite their financial loss.

Has there been any change in the numbers of people needing/wanting food?

The faces that frequent our service have changed considerably over the past few weeks

which is revealing. We realise in these uncertain times, people become much

more conscious /worried of their budgets or even if they still have a job, so getting

something for nothing is actually quite smart.

How have new health and safety measures impacted the day-to-day operation?

The new measures, which we predict will continue for some time, do make work around

our depot trickier but nothing we can't overcome. We find that everyone is

accommodating and willing to do what it takes to follow procedures and guidelines. We

are cleaning surfaces much more often, going through boxes of gloves each week, and one
of our talented volunteers has sewn us personal face masks. We have always been very

conscious of hygiene when handling food so our procedures in that regard haven't

changed much.

Do you have any message to the public?

We have had many offers of help during lockdown, people wanting to come in to help

because it provides them with a change of scenery. Unfortunately, we can't take on any

new volunteers at this time, but thankfully we have enough existing helpers to get us

through.

One more thing, even though these are very serious times and we are dealing with very

real and scary situations and many unknowns, we have a lot of fun while we perform this

labour of love. The team morale is high and we are so rapt to be in a place where we can

have a direct impact on the wellbeing of our community.

For more information visit https://www.nourishedfornil.org/ or check out
Facebook page Nourished for Nil