Food

The food industry has a huge impact on the environment at all stages from the field to the plate. Agriculture currently accounts for around 70% of total water use in the world and conventionally grown food crops require high levels of insect/pesticide sprays which affect the health of wildlife, waterways and soil. As our tastes and diets have become more varied, the distance our food travels from farm to table has also increased massively. Transporting food long distances uses up dwindling fossil fuels and produces greenhouse gases. Generally, the further food has travelled, the more processed it will be and the less nutrients it will have – fresh really is best! There are two main issues we encourage you to think about: where is your food coming from, and what happens to it when you’re done with it.

Many households on Waiheke grow their own veges and catch their own seafood which helps to reduce food miles. Most of our food though is still ‘imported’ from overseas: Auckland and much further afield, meaning we are currently reliant on our transport links with Auckland to feed the majority of the population. The Waiheke Resources Trust would like to see a Waiheke community that is more self-sufficient, resilient, and proactive when it comes to the food we eat.

Step-by-step gardening for beginners

Step 1: Choose a location for your garden

The best garden is one that is as close to your house as possible.

There are a few other key ingredients that your garden will need to flourish:

• Sunlight
• Protection from the prevailing wind
• Water
• Soil enriched with compost, animal manure and/or seaweed

Step 2: Decide what kind of garden you want

In the ground? Raised beds? Containers?

Step 3: Decide what to plant

Think about what veges and herbs you like eating most. These should be the first things on your list. The seasons and our climate on Waiheke will determine when you can plant specific veges. Use the seasonal planting guide to work out what can be planted and when on Waiheke.

When the time comes for planting out your seeds or seedlings, make sure you give them plenty of space (check the instructions on the seed packet) and be careful not to damage the roots during transplanting. Once your seedlings are in the ground give them a gentle watering and then mulch the soil around them.

Step 4: Look after your garden

Now that your garden has been planted out all that you need to do is give it regular TLC.

• Check for weeds
• Water regularly.
• Check for bugs. Some bugs are beneficial for your garden and some are pests.

Step 5: Harvest your vegetables and plan what to plant next

The best part about vegetable gardening is when you get to harvest the veges you have put all that hard work into. Most seeds and seedling packets will give you an idea of how long you can expect to wait between planting and harvesting but you will know when veges are ready to be harvested by looking and tasting.

If you are lucky enough to end up with more produce than you can eat (this often happens with tomatoes, zucchini, pumpkins, basil etc) you can try freezing, drying or preserving the excess. Or try out some different and delicious recipes such as zucchini muffins, pesto or tomato sauce.

If you just can’t look at another tomato or zucchini, give them away to friends, family or neighbours or find a local organisation (the GrOW stall at the market or Waiheke Budgeting Service) that may want them.

Reducing household food waste

Food waste is all of the bits of our food that we don't use -banana skins, apple cores and tea bags. It'salso the crusts that some people just don't like, the food that gets left on plates because someone’s too full and the mouldy old things in the back of your fridge. It all adds up to a lot of food waste.

In NZ 258,886 tonnes of food waste goes to landfill each year. That works out to be 64kg per person. And that's just in New Zealand.

UK=6.7 million tonnes/ 70kg per person per  year of food bought

US=82kg per person into landfill

Disturbing facts about food waste

• On average one third of the food we buy gets thrown away.
• It's mostly avoidable: Only 19% is not avoidable – bones, banana skins, teabags. 20% is possibly avoidable - if we chose to act differently it could be avoidable, but in many families it’s considered normal to waste these types of food. these are things like – vegetable peelings and bread crusts. The largest part is mostly avoidable – 61%. There are two types of mostly avoidable food waste:

1. Prepared/Cooked too much
2. Not used in time.

Impacts

Food waste has serious environmental, economic and social impacts

The environmental impacts come from the effects of landfill and the food cycle:

• Loss of usable space, leachate, sensory pollution
• Greenhouse gases from anaerobic decomposition – If we were able to stop the greenhouse gases produced by food waste in landfill it would be the same as removing one in five cars from the roads!
• The food cycle is the Growing, Processing, Transporting, Retailing, Cooking that goes into getting food to our tables. All of these things require resources – water, energy, transport etc. When we waste food, these things are effectively for nothing!

Economic impacts

One third of what we buy, then waste, adds up to a serious amount of money. It is estimated that the food wasted in the US is worth $43 billion a year, in the UK: £10.2  billion, and in Australia: AU$5.2 billion a year.  In NZ over $750million worth of food is wasted because of confusion over ‘Use By’ and ‘Best Before’ dates alone. The table below will give you an idea of how much food waste might be costing you and your household.

Tips for reducing your food waste

There are many quick and simple things you can do that will help you to reduce the amount of food waste you make and the harm that it causes.

• Get to know what you’re wasting. An important part of making changes to our behaviour is taking stock of how we currently act. Often people are shocked at just how much food they waste.
• Plan your shopping. If you take a shopping list with you when you go food shopping you are more likely to buy what you need and what you’ll use.
• Revolve older items in the front of the cupboard and the fridge so they get used and don’t get forgotten about.
• Use the freezer like a pause button – it’ll stop things from going off and you can bring them out when you need them. It’s amazing what foods can be frozen.
• Know what’s in your fridge and in your cupboards and use this to inform your shopping choices, so you don’t end up with two of the same thing.
• Check the use-by date of food before you buy – if you need a later date try further back on the shelf.
• Portion out servings so people are served what they will eat. This is an easy way to reduce the amount of food wasted by preparing too much. Learn the amounts you and your family eat and stick to it. 
• If you do make too much of something take it for lunch the next day or mix it with additional ingredients to make an entirely new dish.
• Choose environmentally responsible ways to dispose of your food waste – composting and Bokashi are great because they deal with the problem and make wonderful compost for gardens at the same time.
• Buying local and in season reduces the food miles of your food and helps to ensure your food is the freshest and tastiest it can be.