Eight year old Jesse Locke’s observations about food waste have seeded a food exchange stand at Raumanga Medical Centre which has been astonishingly successful.
Jesse is daughter of Dr Conlin Locke and with her dad’s help, the family kicked off the fruit and vegetable exchange stand known as Veggie Life.
“I’m into gardening quite a bit and we’re always giving away veges, so Jesse developed a story on what we get up to,” Conlin said.
The 7500 patients who use Raumanga Medical Centre were alerted to Veggie Life starting up with a text message which resulted in an outpouring of food donations within half an hour of the text being sent out.
“We’ve had more positive comments from this than anything else that’s been done here,” Conlin said.
“A lot of people in the community don’t know where to take their fruit and veg excess. Also a lot of patients love gardening so it gives them a sense of pride.”
Veggie Life is explained like this to users:
“Veggie Life [...] is our way of creating community, and being part of the community. Your generosity is greatly appreciated, ensuring food doesn’t go to waste.”
Donations of eggplants, zucchini, tomatoes, apples, pears, eggs and other items come every day, and Conlin said Veggie Life is so popular that it is emptied by the end of every week. Seeds are also asked for so that those wanting to start fruit and vegetable gardens have the seeds ready to go.
The concept of Veggie Life is straightforward: anyone at any time can pick up food, drop food off, or both. The only stipulation is that people take just enough for their immediate whanau for one day at a time only, so there is enough to go around.
The effects of Veggie Life are significant, however. Having access to food rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre means families save money, eat more healthily, exchange seeds, gain a better understanding of where food comes from and goes and learn about gardening, not to mention the joy that comes from getting something badly needed for free.
“If you’re on a low income, a kilo of apples is six dollars – meanwhile there are trees that are littered with apples.”