Community, Gardens and Kai - The Welly Urban Food Org.

Published 27 July 2023

Community, gardens and kai - there’s room for everyone

By Rose Dohig, Climate Action Educator, Sustainability Trust

With the end of June been and gone, our funding to run the Welly Urban Food Org. has come to an end. But, our involvement doesn't end here. We'll still be active advocates and supporters of urban agriculture in our city, it just changes slightly (keep an eye out for all our upcoming responsible composting workshops).  

Firstly, we must say a huge thank you to Sustainability Trust educators Laura-Kate Howells, Nina Atkinson, Caroline Arrowsmith and Asia Brownlie for their contributions in the early days of the programme. We also greatly appreciate the Wellington City Council for providing the funding for our urban agriculture programme since 2017 - we're lucky to have a local council who are keen to invest in our food system and building community around kai.  

We’ve seen many exciting developments over this time, including the launch of Te Anamata Ā-Kai o Tō Tātou Tāone | Our City’s Food Future, Wellington City Council’s food system action plan. We were also featured in an article by the Dominion Post on the rise of Community Gardens, a sure sign that urban agriculture is here to stay. 

Our urban agriculture programme has seen a few iterations over the years starting as ‘Food is Free’, branching out into the Fruit Tree Guardians Project and finally settling on Welly Urban Food Org (or UFO). With each iteration we have brought together urban agriculture enthusiasts and food growing advocates to collaborate on projects, share learnings and experience, and provide support and resources to each other. We’ve been a hub for connection, collaboration, and advocacy.  

Over the last 12 months we farewelled the wonderful Asia and welcomed Rose into the programme management role. We hosted nine monthly UFO meet ups and heard about the amazing mahi of Common Unity, Kaicycle, Seeds to Feeds, Regional Kai Network, and more. We also took UFO on the road and got to see some of the magic happening in situ at the Community Rongoā Forest in Brooklyn, the Berhampore and Island Bay Community Orchard, and the Kaicycle Urban Farm. We celebrated with old friends and made a heap of new friends who are as passionate about food growing as we are.  

We hosted six free workshops at Wellington City Housing complexes on germination, plant nutrition, fruit tree care and garden sign painting. It’s been a pleasure to collaborate with the wonderful humans involved in the Seeds to Feeds Festival, Kaicycle Urban Farm and Composting, Wellington Timebank, Crop Swap Te Whanganui a Tara, and Wellington City Housing, to slowly but surely work toward a sustainable and resilient local food system. One can’t walk this path alone, and the success of our UFO network would not have been possible without them, so ngā mihi nui to all that have supported us in this project over the years; the commitment and passion for this kaupapa is amazing to witness.  

Food security and kai resilience is increasingly on our tongues in the face of the climate change induced severe weather events of recent times. The only way to create a strong and resilient food system is through community, connection, and collaboration and urban kai networks and community organisations provide an essential piece of this puzzle. 

So a massive thank you to all of those who have supported our UFO network, whether it's being part of our Facebook group, reading our monthly newsletter, or those who have come along to our hui and workshops.  

Urban agriculture is such an exciting and growing space (mind the pun…) and it's a huge privilege to be part of such a knowledgeable, warm and generous community. It’s a community where all are welcome, so head along to your local community garden, share some produce with your neighbours or at your local crop swap, and participate in local kai celebrations. There’s room for everyone in this movement! 

We'll still share resources and events on the Facebook Group when we get the chance, but we won't be sending out our monthly newsletter for the time being. 

Grow well! 

The Sustainability Trust Urban Agriculture crew