Community development in local food solutions

Abstract

Food security and food provenance are becoming topical issues in a globalised food market and a climate-insecure world. New forms of accessing food are emerging and forgotten forms being rediscovered, disrupting increasingly monopolistic commercial markets. Within this, ‘local food’ solutions have gained currency as consumers seek a range of satisfactions beyond price and nutrition. Little has been written on these solutions in the New Zealand context and this paper draws extensively on international literature. Here we examine several models of local food solutions and their relationship to community development. We follow the fortunes of roadside fruit tree planting on Waiheke Island, the varied levels of support or hindrance from local government and its impact on community practice. We report briefly on the results of our questioning and reflect on the expressive nature of community planting, its place in community building and impact on relationships with local government.

A report commissioned by the Waiheke Resources Trust under the ITP Metro research voucher scheme.