Location for Hurunui food hub sought as demand rises

Food Secure North Canterbury wants to make collecting food parcels easier for Hurunui’s three foodbanks as demand for food parcels continues to rise.

Hurunui District Council Community Development Facilitator Roger Hornblow said supplies go out every month from Satisfy Food Rescue in Kaiapoi to Hurunui’s three foodbanks in Amberley, Waikari and Waipara.

“Having a food hub in Hurunui would provide easier access for collection by the district’s food banks and provide Satisfy with an opportunity to connect further into the district,” said Hornblow.

Satisfy Food Rescue Manager Stef van Meer said Satisfy had purchased a chiller, freezer and portacom which they would like to locate in the wider Amberley area. “This is to reduce the distances our hard-working food banks travel every week to collect food. The portacom is built and sitting at the manufacturer ready to be relocated to a suitable location in Hurunui. Funding from the Ministry of Social Development had allowed this capacity building project to get to this point and, once a location is found, a coordinator will be employed to support it.”

Finding a location to lease in the wider Amberley area is holding back progress and proving challenging.

“To get going, only power is required for the three units, with water for the portacom preferable but not essential. Vehicle movements at the site would be a few times a week to start, with potential to grow to once a day. Because the building and chiller/freezer are easily relocatable, the hub could easily be moved should the requirements change for the land that the hub would be located on,” said Hornblow.

Aveai Taulamana from Living Waters Foodbank in Waikari has welcomed the news. "This would be a huge weight off our shoulders. At the moment, Living Waters picks up food from Satisfy Food Rescue in Kaiapoi twice a week. Not only would we save on fuel costs but it would be easier for our volunteers. We would be very excited to have the new hub in Hurunui."

In the short-term until a location is found for the hub, Satisfy will make monthly deliveries of bulk food to the Hurunui food banks in addition to the weekly collections, Hornblow said.

“With demand on our foodbanks continuing to rise, collaborating and supporting each other across North Canterbury has never been so important. Hurunui’s March audit reveals 184 food parcels were distributed to Hurunui, which is the highest number in 11 months since April 2022,” said Hornblow.

Satisfy Food Rescue and Hurunui District Council have been working together for several years as key stakeholders in the Food Secure North Canterbury collaborative partnership. The group are working together on this regional food security project to bring together people, knowledge, and resources, to empower North Canterbury with funding from the Ministry of Social Development.

“We will be looking at how we can maximise and increase local produce to help our residents, especially when prices are rising so steeply,” said Hornblow.

Hornblow said vegetable gardens had become the new normal and this meant that some people had surplus. A local food hub would enable surplus homegrown produce to be collected for redistribution through the local food banks.