Murihiku Kai newsletter to focus on local food system
Murihiku Kai coordinator Steve Broad has initiated the newsletter as part of a mission to bring the “Feeding Murihiku - Our Good Food Road Map” to life.
A new Substack newsletter - Murihiku Kai – is aimed at highlighting and celebrating the people and community-led initiatives across Southland that are helping support and empower our local food system, and making it easier for people to source affordable, nutritious food.
Murihiku Kai coordinator Steve Broad has initiated the newsletter as part of a mission to bring the “Feeding Murihiku - Our Good Food Road Map” to life.
The Road Map offers a blueprint for a food system that’s fairer, more sustainable, and more resilient for everyone across the region.
You can follow Murihiku Kai for free by clicking here.
If you’ve got a story idea or, better still, would like to contribute your own story, email steveb@activesouthland.co.nz
Check out an excerpt from the first newsletter below:
On a drizzly Southland morning in March, I pulled into a gravel car park I’d never noticed, but no doubt had passed hundreds of times while sneaking the back way to Dunedin. I met Nicky, the chair of the local community board, who I’d been texting the day before, accepting the invitation to come see the space she’d spoken so passionately about. I can tell she’s excited to see it again, through my eyes. She leads me through a wooden gate and along a path behind a large greenhouse. Soon enough, my view expands beyond the greenhouse to an adjoining paddock, and I’m immediately floored. The space, at the base of a hill, is lined with row after row of plantings and produce – the most incredible, expansive, and beautifully maintained vegetable garden: the Mataura Community Garden.
I’m unsure if my jaw came off the dirt for the next hour.
Through the squelching of gumboots and wet-weather gear-laden volunteers, organising themselves into their morning duties, a strong figure slowly makes his way towards me, down a line of mounded dirt, being careful not to waver and step onto the row of young lettuce to his right and broccoli to his left.
I immediately begin to regret my outfit choice: black skate shoes, denim shorts, and a t-shirt that scream “towny,” “visitor,” and would’ve brought instant shame to the generations of sheep farmers that led to my existence.
The man puts out his hand, and I firm up my grip, unnecessarily bracing for impact. “Mike,” he said.
I instantly knew this was a good man. I’d later find out that Mike wasn’t just the person I’d driven from Invercargill to talk to about the community garden, but also the local church pastor, head of Mataura Lions Club and a champion of the town’s Blokes Shed group.
Instantly, I knew Mike carried mana in the group because, as he warmly ushered Nicky and me into the greenhouse to avoid the rain, we were politely interrupted by dedicated volunteers eager to pick his brain over the pressing issues of the morning.
As we chatted in the shelter and warmth of the greenhouse, lined with orange peppers and courgettes, Mike and Nicky told me a story about how they are helping to feed the community they love through their local community garden.
The Mataura Community Garden is special. It hugs you as you walk in.
Barbara Cunningham was the garden’s original pioneer, and in the spring of 2009 the first seeds were planted. It was born out of a desire Barbara had to teach her community how to grow plants, and support them by offering locally grown, fresh and cheap vegetables.
Mike took over a few years later and now helps lead an incredible group of volunteers who meet every Saturday morning at 9 a.m. at 190 Kana Street.
You can read the full post here.
If this story has sparked your interest about the Mataura Community Garden, this garden is open to anyone in the community and is always looking for new volunteers to help support their vision.
Volunteers are rewarded with veges for their time. If you’d like to volunteer, or find out more, you can message the Mataura Community Garden on Facebook, or call Mike on 027 229 7218.