An Introduction to Local Food Systems

Bailey Peryman & Shane Orchard

November 2012

Contents

1. Introduction ...... 1

2. Local Food Systems ...... 3

A ...... 3

Allotments ...... 3

Aquaponics ...... 3

B ...... 3

Bioregion ...... 3

Blitz models ...... 4

C ...... 4

City Farms ...... 4

Commercial Kitchen (shared-use for community) ...... 4

Community garden/community gardening ...... 4

Community Orchard ...... 5

Community-supported Agriculture (CSA) ...... 5

E ...... 6

Ecosystems thinking ...... 6

Edible Landscapes/Streetscapes (see also ‘verge gardens’) ...... 6

F ...... 6

Food Commons ...... 6

Food Hub ...... 6

Foodshed ...... 7

Foraging (see ‘wild harvest’) ...... 7

Forest gardens / Food forests ...... 7

G ...... 7

Guerrilla gardening ...... 7

H ...... 8

Home gardens ...... 8 K ...... 8

Kids Edible Gardens...... 8

L ...... 8

Local Food Systems ...... 8

M ...... 9

Mahinga kai ...... 9

N ...... 9

Nurseries ...... 9

P ...... 10

Permaculture ...... 10

Public Park Foraging ...... 10

R ...... 11

Resource Pool ...... 11

S ...... 11

School Gardens (see also ‘Kids Edible Gardens’) ...... 11

Seed banks ...... 11

Seed Library ...... 11

Seed Swaps ...... 12

Sharefarming/shared animal husbandry/Sharemilking ...... 12

U ...... 12

Urban Agriculture (see also ‘City Farms’) ...... 12

V ...... 13

Verge Gardens ...... 13

W ...... 14

Wild harvest ...... 14

1. Introduction Local Food Systems include opportunities for improving local food production and mahinga kai values in a given area. There is now a substantial body of literature discussing the benefits of local food and related concepts. These concepts include ‘think global act local’ and localisation itself (for example as found in the Slow Cities movement, Transition movement, and the ‘re-localisation’ concept), various food production systems with a local focus, food security issues, and the connection between local food production and a range of health and well-being issues.

Local Food Economies Localising our economy has been recognised as “local dollars, local sense”. Michael Shuman, research director for the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, author of The SmallMart Revolution, Local Dollars, Local Sense and lead author of Community Food Enterprise: Local Success in a Global Marketplace has stated that “Local food is one of the fastest, most effective and affordable strategies for economic development”1. In a multi-year study on 24 community food enterprises in America, it was found that the appeal to the consumer of local food was not just about the proximity of production and short supply chains but the fact that their purchase contributed probably two to four times as many economic benefits than if they had purchased in a non-locally owned food business2. This also demonstrates the economic spin offs of a local food industry, which is experiencing significant growth in start-ups:

There’s a global movement of entrepreneurs developing technologies that help preserve and reinvigorate local food systems. They’re creating everything from sensors and software that help farmers improve operation to online marketplaces that allow farmers and food artisans to sell direct to consumers3.

Local Food Security The CDHB has conducted research on food security as it relates to the local context, noting in the ‘solutions’ section that “there is evidence that the availability of affordable and easily accessible fresh foods makes a healthy diet more likely” (Healthy Christchurch, 2012). They also list international examples of support for increased food security which include: bulk buying of seasonal fresh produce for vege-boxes, removing permits or waiving restrictions for activities that assist food security such as urban gardens or farmers markets; ensuring that roads do not displace local businesses and remove access to existing food sources; ensuring that food producing land locally is not taken for housing or roadways; and actively promoting policies that encourage local food production that reduces the need for packaging and transport.

Local food security is a growing issue in modern urban environments. Rapid levels of urbanisation have been occurring on a global scale over the last half century, with 50% of the world’s current population residing in urban areas; this figure is expected to increase to 60% by 2030 (WHO, 2013)4. Population rise escalates the issue of food security, as demand for food increases in urban areas.

1 Shuman, as quoted in http://www.foodhubs.org.au/when-local-food-makes-a-significant-difference/ 2 Shuman (2010) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-h-shuman/community-food-enterprise_b_436026.html 3 http://www.forbes.com/sites/daniellegould/2013/10/27/italys-emerging-food-ag-tech-startup-ecosystem/ 4 World Health Organisation (WHO). (2013). Retrieved 15/10/2013 from http://www.who.int/gho/urbanhealth/situation_trends/urban_population_growth_text/en/ 5 Horrigan et al., (2002) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1240832/ 2

Current food systems are heavily reliant on fossil fuels and extremely vulnerable to impending peak oil and climate change. There is therefore an urgent need to rethink urban food systems in order to make them more resilient and sustainable in the future. Community gardening and urban farming are direct responses to the increasing issues of food security in urban areas, and these systems can take on multiple forms, as explored below. These systems set out to centralize and diversify food production on a more localised scale. Thus, the direct benefits of accessible, locally grown fresh produce provide a greater level of security and resilience within local food systems.

Local Food and Environmental Benefits

The land and its food growing ability means that it is one of our life supporting capacities. The industrial agricultural system ruins land through consumption of fossil fuel, water, topsoil and contributes to environmental degradation via air and water pollution, soil depletion and diminishing bio-diversity.5 This has impacts on the environment and ultimately our health. There is evidence that organic local food systems can be environmentally restorative:

The reason its credible is that, when you mimic natural systems, rather than monocrop systems of corporate agriculture we’re accustomed to, we can produce up to ten times the nutrition per square foot. For example, when you plant food in multiple layers like you would see in a forest — even if you’re just planting a raised bed — you get ten times the productivity of a monocrop. And at the same time you’re building soil, you’re recycling wastes, you’re providing valuable ecological services that mimic nature, which the monocrop system does not. You don’t see monocrops in nature. You see diversity in nature6.

This paper is a living document that may be updated over time. It was originally produced to inform a local food mapping exercise as part of the Habitat Sumner case study on post-earthquake recovery needs and opportunities in Sumner, New Zealand. The paper is available as a free download via the Habitat Sumner website www.habitatproject.wordpress.com

The authors welcome feedback and information on these and other local food systems. Please feel welcome to forward any information that may be useful for the next edition of An Introduction to Local Food Systems.

5 Horrigan et al., (2002) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1240832/ 6 http://permaculturenews.org/2013/07/04/the-permaculture-solution-an-interview-with-warren-brush/ 3

2. Local Food Systems

Allotments7 An allotment garden (British English), often called simply an allotment, or community garden (North America) is a plot of land made available for individual, non-commercial gardening. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families. Such parcels are cultivated individually, contrary to other community garden types where the entire area is tended collectively by a group of people.[2] In countries that do not use the term allotment (garden), a community garden can refer to individual small garden plots as well as to a single, large piece of land gardened collectively by a group of people. The term victory garden is also still sometimes used, especially when a community garden dates back to World War II or I.

Aquaponics8 Aquaponics are sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals.

Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Bioregion A Bioregion (‘life region’) is a watershed area with particular characteristics of flora, fauna, people, economy, resources, history.

A Bioregional analysis includes soil types, vegetation, climate, hydrology , exclusion techniques (areas not suitable for food production), identification of actual and potential food growing areas, and ‘food links’. This includes the idea of food growing nodes; for example for a city to be fully supplied with locally grown food, all potential green spaces can be considered as growing areas, complimentary to or integrated with their current use.

7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotment_(gardening) 8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics 4

Blitz models9 A Permablitz is an informal gathering involving a day on which a group of at least two people come together to achieve the following:  create or add to edible gardens where someone lives  share skills related to permaculture and sustainable living  build community networks  have fun

In other literature these events are sometimes referred to as ‘Bio-blitz’ or similar. Blitzes are free events, open to the public, with free workshops, shared food, where you get some exercise and have a wonderful time.

In permaculture circles a permablitz event would be preceded by a permaculture design session led by a designer with a Permaculture Design Certificate. Permaculture networks run on reciprocity, and in order to qualify for a permablitz event on your land the usual practice is to have participated in a permablitz elsewhere first.

City Farms10 City farms are usually community-run projects in urban areas, which involve people interacting and working with animals and plants. They aim to improve community relationships and offer an awareness of agriculture and farming to people who live in built-up areas.

Commercial Kitchen (shared-use for community) “A shared-use community commercial kitchen can be a key piece in building economic opportunity, environmental sustainability, and community health. It can also play a critical role in developing a healthy, safe, and secure local food supply on an ongoing basis and during times of crisis.”11

Community garden/community gardening Community gardens are spaces where people work together to grow food. Despite sharing similar purposes, each space and the focus of the people involved is completely unique. This is a result of the land and resources available at the time the garden was established and creates a distinctive character for each space.

What happens in each garden is much more than a simple production operation. It is important to acknowledge the influence of a community garden on local neighbourhoods and wider community networks. Each community gardening initiative can take on many different forms and has its own purpose. This variation is largely determined by three simple factors:

9 http://www.permablitz.net/what-is-a-permablitz 10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_farm 11 http://takomaparkpc.org/Commercial_Kitchen_Fact_Sheet_ML.pdf 5

1. The size of the space available and the nature of that particular habitat;

2. The people involved, their intentions and how they choose to organise;

3. The resources immediately available and any activities developed by the group over time.

The form any particular community garden takes sits on a continuum of ‘community gardening’ initiatives. These can be framed according to the bioregional scale of each space or gardening project, for example:

Home garden Street / Neighbourhood Scale Suburb

Garden groups – verge plantings – community gardens – school gardens – community orchards – urban farms

Regardless of the type of community gardening initiative, the fundamental basis is that the benefits of these spaces are shared and can play a central role in education, health, sustainability and community wellbeing in general.

Community Orchard12 The traditional orchard offers a landscape of tall trees changing with the seasons, fruit of many kinds, good soil and an array of wild life. A Community Orchard adds to that rich mix, a place to learn and exchange knowledge, to hold festivals or seek quiet contemplation, a place for social play and work and somewhere to explore and show off how to live well with nature.

They offer a way of saving vulnerable old orchards and opportunities to plant new ones, providing places for quiet contemplation or local festivities, a reservoir of local varieties of fruit and a refuge for wild life13.

Community-supported Agriculture (CSA)14 Community-supported agriculture (in North America sometimes known as community-shared agriculture) (CSA) is an alternative, locally-based socio-economic model of agriculture and food distribution. A CSA also refers to a particular network or association of individuals who have pledged to support one or more local farms, with growers and consumers sharing the risks and benefits of food production. CSA members or subscribers pay at the onset of the growing season for a share of the anticipated harvest; once harvesting begins, they receive weekly shares of vegetables and fruit, in a vegetable box scheme, and also sometimes herbs, cut flowers, honey, eggs, dairy products and meat, as well. Some CSAs provide for contributions of labour in lieu of a portion of subscription costs.

12http://www.theecologist.org/how_to_make_a_difference/food_and_gardening/876973/what_is_a_community_orchard .html 13 http://sca21.wikia.com/wiki/Community_orchards 14 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community-supported_agriculture 6

Ecosystems thinking Ecosystem thinking involves looking at both human-built and natural systems as though they are interlinked and part of an ecological whole. Doing so recognises the linkages in both space and time between all types of systems and ongoing natural processes. Ecosystem thinking was described by Aldo Leopold as a land ethic that “simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land” and added that a human is a “plain member and citizen” of the land community15.

Another aspect is that ecosystems are often more complex than we think, and therefore utilitarian approaches that seek to exploit particular aspects of the system are often later found to have generated problems elsewhere. Ecosystem thinking can help address these issues and is of particular importance to local food production concepts since all food production is ultimately dependent on the health of the ecosystems that support it.

Edible Landscapes/Streetscapes (see also ‘verge gardens’) The planting of edible food varieties in public spaces, beginning with spaces like footpath berms and verges, fruit trees along walkways and cycleways, public planter boxes with herbs and other hardy edible varieties – all with the intention of promoting awareness about food, how it is grown and making fresh foods more accessible.

Video Resource: http://www.ted.com/talks/pam_warhurst_how_we_can_eat_our_landscapes.html

Food Commons16 The Food Commons is a new economic paradigm and whole system approach for regional food. The Food Commons seeks to connect local and regional food system enterprises in a cooperative national federation that enhances their profitability and sustainability while creating and supporting a robust system of local community financing, ownership, management and accountability.

Food Hub17 “A centrally located facility with a business management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and or marketing of locally and regionally produced food products” (USDA Agricultural Marketing Service)

15 see http://americaswildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Thinking-Like-a-Mountain.pdf 16 see http://www.thefoodcommons.org/summary.html 17 http://www.thefoodcommons.org/images/FoodCommons_2-0.pdf 7

Foodshed18 The area of land and sea within a region from which food is produced in order to deliver nutrition to a population base. A local or regional food system includes all the inputs, outputs and processes involved in feeding the population within a foodshed. Note that the foodshed concept does not obviate the goal or need to export or import food outside of a region.

Foraging (see ‘wild harvest’)

Forest gardens / Food forests The concept of food forests has its roots in permaculture – an approach to sustainable living developed in the 70s in Tasmania by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. The original model was for small farming communities and it focused on organic gardening practices that mimicked natural systems. The pair developed an approach that, rather than viewing an apple orchard as a singular productive area, saw all the garden’s elements – the interconnections between different crops, as well as with animals – as part of a complete system. The idea was that by looking for and creating symbiotic relationships through design, a self-sustaining system could be created.

The design was also driven strongly by function, with the zoning of plants decided by how frequently they needed to be used or maintained. Annual crops planted close to dwellings were deemed the most high-maintenance, whereas fruit and nut trees, which required less frequent management and harvesting, were planted further away. This was the beginning of the food forest.

Educationally, a food forest provides an urban centre that can be used by schools, early childhood centres, rest homes, garden clubs and other groups to stay connected to food processes and sources, the benefits of which are undisputed. Attaching a plant nursery to the project is also a way to help it become financially self-sustaining. In turn, the nursery provides an urban genetic bank of locally appropriate species that can be grafted then redistributed in the community, which could be invaluable to future generations. http://www.listener.co.nz/lifestyle/gardens/food-forests/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_gardening

Guerrilla gardening19 Guerrilla gardening is gardening on land that the gardeners do not have legal right to use, often an abandoned site or area not cared for by anyone. It encompasses a very diverse range of people and motivations, from the enthusiastic gardener who spills over their legal boundaries to the highly political gardener who seeks to provoke change through direct action.

The land that is guerrilla gardened is usually abandoned or neglected by its legal owner. That land is used by guerrilla gardeners to raise plants, frequently focusing on food crops or plants intended to

18 http://www.thefoodcommons.org/images/FoodCommons_2-0.pdf 19 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_gardening 8

beautify an area. This practice has implications for land rights and land reform; it promotes re- consideration of land ownership in order to reclaim land from perceived neglect or misuse and assign a new purpose to it.

Some guerrilla gardeners carry out their actions at night, in relative secrecy, to sow and tend a new vegetable patch or flower garden in an effort to make the area of use and/or more attractive. Some garden at more visible hours to be seen by their community. It has grown into a form of proactive activism or pro-activism.

See following youtube from Ron Finley about Guerilla Gardening in South Central Los Angeles: http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la.html

Home gardens Home gardens are a key aspect of kiwi culture and self-sufficiency. In the USA Eleanor Roosevelt planted a White House victory garden during World War II. Her initiative encouraged millions of victory gardens that eventually grew 40 percent of the nation’s fresh produce20.

Kids Edible Gardens Kids Edible Gardens is a Christchurch based initiative that assists schools implementing organic gardening so that children learn how to grow their own vegetables, flowers, herbs and fruit. Kids Edible Gardens has worked in more than 20 primary schools in Christchurch, involving teachers, parents, other community groups and, of course, children. KEGs gardening practice is based on permaculture principles: the conscious design and maintenance of productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems.

Local Resource: http://www.organics.org.nz/oct.html#kids

Local Food Systems21 Local food systems are an alternative to the global corporate models where producers and consumers are separated through a chain of processors/manufacturers, shippers and retailers. They "are complex networks of relationships between actors including producers, distributors, retailers and consumers grounded in a particular place. These systems are the unit of measure by which participants in local food movements are working to increase food security and ensure the economic, ecological and social sustainability of communities."

20 http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/Local-Agriculture-Local-Food-Movement.aspx 21 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_food#Local_food_systems 9

Mahinga kai The practice of mahinga kai is a fundamental aspect of Māori culture. Mahinga kai involves the whole resource chain, and includes the process of food gathering, the way it is gathered, the place it is gathered from, and all aspects of the actual resource itself and the management of that resource. Management aspects include social and education elements such as the development of seasonal timetables and other practices to best utilise the resources available.

Although many traditional mahinga kai resources have become degraded by activities associated with European colonisation and development patterns, there are also many examples of initiatives to restore mahinga kai. These include projects designed to increase the amount and quality of kai produced or gathered by Māori22, and work on other cultural values such as kaitiakitanga that are important to managing mahinga kai resources in a culturally appropriate way23.

Nurseries24 A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to usable size. They include retail nurseries which sell to the general public, wholesale nurseries which sell only to businesses such as other nurseries and to commercial gardeners, and private nurseries which supply the needs of institutions or private estates. Some retail and wholesale nurseries sell by mail.

Although the popular image of a nursery is that of a supplier of garden plants, the range of nursery functions is far wider, and is of vital importance to many branches of agriculture, forestry and conservation biology. Some nurseries specialize in one phase of the process: propagation, growing out, or retail sale; or in one type of plant: e.g., groundcovers, shade plants, or rock garden plants. Some produce bulk stock, whether seedlings or grafted, of particular varieties for purposes such as fruit trees for orchards, or timber trees for forestry. Some produce stock seasonally, ready in springtime for export to colder regions where propagation could not have been started so early, or to regions where seasonal pests prevent profitable growing early in the season.

Nurseries often grow plants in a greenhouse, a building of glass or in plastic tunnels, designed to protect young plants from harsh weather (especially frost), while allowing access to light and ventilation. Modern greenhouses allow automated control of temperature, ventilation and light and semi-automated watering and feeding. Some also have fold-back roofs to allow "hardening-off" of plants without the need for manual transfer to outdoor beds.

22 For example see Roskruge, N. (2005). Nga Maara kai ki te ao hurihuri/Garden foods of the future. Paper presented at the Maori Succeeding in Agribusiness Conference, Massey University, 8-9 September, 2005. 23 see http://www.mahinga.kai.org.nz 24 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_nursery 10

Permaculture Permaculture is a conscious land-use and social design system based on ecological principles, marrying the needs of people with the needs of the environment. It mimics the patterns and relationships found in nature, whilst yielding an abundance of food, fibre and energy for provision of local needs.

Applying agricultural zoning to bioregional scale food production:

 Zone 1: Home Gardens ( faster growing veges, especially salad greens, herbs)

 Zone 2: Neighbourhood Nodes and Schools ( staple crops, fruit trees, herbs, smaller animals e.g. chickens, ducks). Schools are food gardens, seed banks, and plant distribution nodes. In cities fill in all possible niches - so your whole suburb becomes your browsing orchard! Find suitable public land and start a neighbourhood orchard. Make culinary culture part of your home and community life. Process fruit together as a community. Redesign suburbs, villages and towns for greater green space, water harvesting and food production.

 Zone 3: Lifestyle blocks/Hobby Farms ( grains & pulses, commercial fruits, med-sized animals e.g. sheep, goats). Peri-urban areas, open spaces and hinterlands need to be included in a bioregional food production approach.

 Zone 4: Rural pastoral and forestry lands ( nut trees and quality timber, larger animals e.g. cattle, cows, deer). ‘Sharemilking’ – a joint venture approach to animal raising & production. ‘Sharefarming’ – a joint venture/CSA approach to animal raising & production

 Zone 5: Wilderness Areas ( wild harvest e.g. berries, mushrooms, wild game, kaimoana). Roadside verges, park edges eg fruit foraging; Farmlands e.g. mushrooms; Forest edges e.g. berries; Deep forest e.g. wild game (pigs, goats, deer); Wetlands e.g. raupo; Creeks e.g. watercress; Rivers e.g. fish; Ocean tidal zone e.g. seaweed & shellfish.

Public Park Foraging Public parks and other public spaces are ideal for the planting of fruit and nut trees, although this is generally not supported by Christchurch City Council despite a number of precedents being set by community gardens like Packe Street Park (which is on reserve land). There are numerous examples around other cities in New Zealand where this is occurring however, edible fruit trees are planted on public land in Marlborough as part of the Council's commitment to providing resources for the community good25. The Mount Eden Village People project in Auckland is also doing significant work in planting fruit trees in public parks and reserves, based on a good relationship with their local Council and community boards: http://www.mountedenvillagepeople.co.nz/fruit-trees-for- auckland/

25 http://www.marlborough.govt.nz/Recreation/Parks-and-Reserves/Fruit-and-Nut-Trees.aspx 11

Resource Pool A resource pool is a community-owned and shared pool of resources that is costly for individuals to purchase and maintain when they are likely to get limited usage. Some basic items might include lawn mowers, wheel-barrows, BBQs, food processing equipment, gardening tools, mulchers, trailers. A more developed resource pool would include vehicles, a grain mill, heavy machinery (tractors, diggers). Many community projects and initiatives require access to equipment in their early stages, as well as for on-going development. Volunteers can be reluctant to use personal equipment for community projects as it can get damaged, misplaced or misused.

S School Gardens (see also ‘Kids Edible Gardens’)26

Many schools have already established gardens, recognising the opportunities that gardening provides to foster children’s social and physical development and an interest in healthy eating. Gardening is a practical activity that most children enjoy; it provides an opportunity for very active children to use their energy productively and links into many curriculum areas such as health and science, as well as history and social studies, including tikanga Māori.

A school garden also offers a way in which parents and other family members can become more engaged with the school and their children’s learning. Parents with expertise in growing different foods may be happy to help in the gardens and/or provide advice. School gardens can become a source of inspiration for children and parents alike, and the creation of a garden in a school often leads to families who did not previously grow food starting their own vegetable gardens at home.

Schools are ideal for food gardens, seed banks, and plant distribution nodes.

Seed banks A seedbank stores seeds as a source for planting in case seed reserves elsewhere are destroyed. It is a type of gene bank. The seeds stored may be food crops, or those of rare species to protect biodiversity. The reasons for storing seeds may be varied. In the case of food crops, many useful plants that were developed over centuries are now no longer used for commercial agricultural production and are becoming rare. Storing seeds also guards against catastrophic events like natural disasters, outbreaks of disease, or war. Unlike seed libraries or seed swaps that encourage frequent reuse and sharing of seeds, seedbanks are not typically open to the public.

Seed Library27 A seed library is an institution that lends or shares seed. It is distinguished from a seedbank in that the main purpose is not to store or hold germplasm or seeds against possible destruction, but to disseminate them to the public which preserves the shared plant varieties through propagation and

26 http://www.growtogether.org.nz/schools-early-childhood/school-gardens/ 27 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed_libraries 12 further sharing of seed. Seed libraries usually maintain their collections through donations from members but may also operate as pure charity operations intent on serving gardeners and farmers. A common attribute of many seed libraries is to preserve agricultural biodiversity by focusing on rare, local, and heirloom seed varieties.

Seed libraries use varied methods for sharing seeds, primarily by:

 seed swaps, in which library members or the public meet and exchange seeds

 seed "lending," in which people check out seed from the library's collection, grow them, save the seed, and return seed from the propagated plants to the library

Seed Swaps Seed swaps are events where gardeners meet to exchange seeds. Swapping can be arranged online or by mail, especially when participants are spread out geographically. Swap meet events, where growers meet and exchange their excess seeds in person, are also growing in popularity. In part this is due to increased interest in organic gardening and heritage or heirloom plant varietals.

Swapping seeds is of great cultural significance for many of the people involved, because it allows a culture which has become widely distributed, such as Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States, to continue to grow the food they are accustomed to, foods which often have great significance, and for which seeds are often transported over great distances. Mike Szuberla, organizer of a seed swap in Toledo, Ohio, noted, "Seeds are, in a sense, suitcases in which people can transport their cultures with them...Many families have brought their favorite seeds on tremendous journeys.

Local resource: http://www.southernseed.org.nz/

Sharefarming/shared animal husbandry/Sharemilking Sharefarming is a system of farming in which sharefarmers make use of agricultural assets they do not own in return for some percentage of the profits. Sometimes the sharefarmer will receive a wage from the owner instead, although such a person is normally considered a tenant farmer or farm labourer. Two common implementations of the sharefarming concept are sharecropping and sharemilking, although it is applied to other sorts of agricultural assets.

Urban Agriculture28 (see also ‘City Farms’) Urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around a village, town, or city. Urban agriculture can also involve aquaculture, agroforestry, and horticulture. These activities also occur in peri-urban areas as well.

28 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_agriculture 13

Urban farming is generally practiced for income-earning or food-producing activities, though in some communities the main impetus is recreation and relaxation. Urban agriculture contributes to food security and food safety in two ways: first, it increases the amount of food available to people living in cities, and second, it allows fresh vegetables, fruits, and meat products to be made available to urban consumers. It decreases food deserts. A common and efficient form of urban agriculture is the biointensive method. Because urban agriculture promotes energy-saving local food production, urban and peri-urban agriculture are generally seen as sustainable agriculture.

The recognition of environmental degradation within cities through the relocation of resources to serve urban populations has inspired the implementation of different schemes of urban agriculture across the developed and developing world. From historic models such as Machu Picchuto designs for new productive city farms, the idea of locating agriculture in or around the city takes on many characteristics.

Verge Gardens29 Most verge plantings have so far been created by gardeners who know what they are doing, but the recent burst of popularity suggests that a little thought before acting might be a good thing.

Established street trees and newer verge plantings bring welcome shade to this Chippendale footpath in summer. http://communitygarden.org.au/2010/04/09/verge-gardens/

29 Taken from Australian City Farms and Community Gardens Network - Design guidelines for street verge gardens: http://communitygarden.org.au/2010/04/09/verge-gardens/ 14

There is often concern in local government (which is responsible for public footpaths), that street verge gardens might be planted in inappropriate species and could interfere with underground services such as water, gas and sewage pipes or block easy access to and from the street. However, there are design solutions to these reservations.

It can be confusing for local government when they are approached by people wanting to make a verge garden or who have already turned their street-front strip to citrus and cabbage, nuts or natives. Rather than think how this could be done well, there have been incidents where councils have ordered the removal of verge gardens or removed them themselves. However, for councils willing to creatively engage with citizens in this new use of public land, a little design thinking can ensure that planted street verges—edible and otherwise—are made to a high standard of safety, access and finish. Where councils decide to go with the flow of public interest and enable street verge plantings, publication of a set of design and planting guidelines can be a great help.

Wild harvest The concept of wild harvest is the source of many foods, both commonplace (eg fishing) and less known (eg seaweed picking). Examples of food groups commonly sourced through wild harvest in New Zealand include berries, mushrooms, wild game, and kaimoana. Wild harvest can also be applied to many different areas of the environment, for example roadside verges (e.g. fruit foraging), farmlands (e.g. mushrooms), forest edges (e.g. berries), deep forest (e.g. wild game, medicinal plants), wetlands (e.g. raupō), rivers (e.g. fish), drains (e.g. watercress), and intertidal zones (e.g. seaweed & shellfish).

Wild harvest such as these Oamaru mussels is often an important source of local food and relies on a healthy local environmental together with appropriate management of local food species.