At South Kaipara Good Food (SKGF), we believe good food should never go to waste, especially when so many in our local community are going without, often multiple times a week.
That’s why we’ve been working hard across multiple levels within the food sector to enable food rescue to nourish tummies and not go to landfills, creating CO₂ emissions. After all, it’s in our tagline: “nourishing communities, cultivating change.”
We're not doing this alone—community collaboration is at the heart of our work. Every rescued tray of eggs, every surplus crate of celery, and every shared meal is a win in the fight against food poverty.
For many in the food industry, waste is part of their daily happenings. But in our community, we’re flipping that narrative. At SKGF, we see food waste as an opportunity to use these relationships to reduce food poverty and create a meaningful impact.
In just six months, we’ve redirected over 40,000 kilograms of food (the equivalent of 18,000 meals) away from landfills and into the hands of those who need it most, and that’s just locally in South Kaipara. Thousands of women, men, and children are fed through SKGF and the 30-plus partner organisations we work alongside, including schools, local community agencies, and other wider networks.
This isn’t just success measured in numbers. Locally, this success is measured in environmental impact, reduced home stress, more food in the kitchen cupboard, and a stronger, more connected, resilient community.
For local manufacturers and growers, whether it’s overordering stock, a cancelled export order, or portions that are simply too big for a consumer and create waste in the kitchen, each bit of wasted kai represents lost dollars, missed potential, and disregard for the mana of kai.
So, here is the question we pose to people when they ask what they can do. What if surplus is reframed as saving?
Read the full article by Gemma Donaldson, Chief Executive, South Kaipara Good Food in the latest issue here
