Jordy Gastmeier wanted to make a difference when she started volunteering at Tauranga’s community foodbank.
Three years later, the volunteer-turned-warehouse manager has made a host of changes, and she’s focused on providing access to healthy, sustainable foods.
It comes as the Bay of Plenty Times’ six-week Christmas Appeal enters its fifth week.
Gastmeier’s main role at the foodbank is to source food, and her interest in nutrition has driven her to join local and national organisations striving to provide healthy food to New Zealanders.
“There has been a huge increase in the need for food this year due to the cost of living,” said Gastmeier, who says clients regularly collected food in their work uniforms.
Mana Kai Mana Ora is a network of more than 100 organisations and individuals in the Western Bay of Plenty striving to create a sustainable local food system so no one goes hungry.
Community gardens, open street pantries and public fruit tree orchards are some of the projects the group touches on during their monthly huis.
Co-ordinator Amy Board said 9 per cent of the Bay of Plenty region was not kai secure, which is “really indicative of a broken food system”.
She stressed how “growing your own kai really reduces the supermarket bill”, with community gardens a focus for the group.
This year, Gastmeier began working at the Bayfair community gardens every Tuesday to secure more fresh fruit and vegetables for the foodbank.
Utilising land, developing a garden plan and rotating crops are the ways Gastmeier and the gardens increase their reserves. The crops are now producing about 24 banana boxes of produce a week.
Gastmeier is also part of the national Zero Hunger Initiative Kore Haikai, whichs aims to address the root causes of food-related poverty and move towards a food-secure Aotearoa.
They set the national standard of what grocery support an organisation like the foodbank should have.
“The good news is we were meeting the standard before it was even created,” said Gastmeier.
When Kore Haikai visited the foodbank, they were “impressed by how we do things and positive about our goals”.
The foodbank’s goal, said Gastmeier, was to be a mana-enhancing environment, despite the “many ways a foodbank could negatively affect a person’s spirit”.
“We try to give our clients as much choice as we can,” Gastmeier said.
The store, used for those needing longer-term help, was designed for this reason - so clients could have control and ownership over what they eat each week.
“[Another way] we make the foodbank a positive place is by creating a culture where we care about each person.”
Volunteers strive to arrive early so when clients come, there’s no rush of service and volunteers and clients can engage in conversations.
“It’s not uncommon to get a hug from a client we’ve supported.”
Gastmeier even brings her dog to work every day, and “the amount of conversations that spark up because of her is really awesome”.
Another change Gastmeier has made is increasing the food supply.
In case of an emergency or, say, another pandemic, the amount of stock in supply has increased from three weeks to three months worth.
She has also categorised different shelves of food for specific dietary requirements.
“Before, volunteers could take half an hour trying to find the right product if they weren’t informed.”
This year has seen “record demand”, as the foodbank spent an average of $20,012 per month on staple foods, compared to $14,758 a month the year before.
Its 12-month food budget was spent in five months, and it needed to make changes to the types of food it purchased.
As a result, the foodbank has not been able to include snack foods for families such as two-minute noodles, muesli bars, chips or crackers as part of the average of 33 parcels sent out each day.
Cash donations are also welcomed, as they mean the foodbank can purchase items it needs when it needs them.
Tauranga Community Foodbank 2023 wishlist
- Treats
- Cereal
- Spreads
- Nappies (size four, five, six)
- Drinking chocolate and coffee
- Muesli bars
- Canned fruit
- Tinned fish
Any items are welcome, even if they’re not on the list. Cash donations are also welcome.
Harriet Laughton is a multi-media journalist based in the Bay of Plenty.