Kiwi Indians urged to join unique veggie garden project
A unique Manukau City Council initiative to proactively address deepening health concerns in a large section of the population by promoting healthy eating is proving to be a great success, encouraging the council to expand the project.
Over the past 18 months or so, the council’s Manukau Parks Growing for Health – Teaching Garden project has over 600 people now involved in its innovative programme.
“It’s pretty simple,” says Varsha Belwalkar, Manukau City Council Parks Ranger, who manages one of the six sites scattered across the city. “We provide garden plots, seeds and mentors to teach how to plant, grow and manage vegetable and fruit gardens and encourage people to grow their own kitchen gardens in their homes. And it is free.”
A staggering 74% of the local population is considered obese with 12,000 diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and a further 12,000 considered undiagnosed, Ms Belwalkar says.
And eating a healthy diet of mostly organically grown vegetables can go a long way in providing the required balance to a diet otherwise deficient in fibre and other valuable nutrients that come from veggies.
Considering the gravity of the situation to the population’s health and welfare, Manukau Parks committed to establishing eight teaching gardens in four wards of high deprivation over two years. The Manukau Parks Teaching Gardens project supports the Let’s Beat Diabetes Gardening for Health and Sustainability initiative.
The Manukau Parks model is one of experiential learning of basic horticultural husbandry techniques delivered by paid mentors. The mentors’ activities are coordinated and managed by Park Rangers like Ms Belwalkar who are assigned as site managers.
Plots are allocated to an individual or a group to grow vegetables for a season, and participants are taught a range of skills from seed germination through to harvesting. The project is based on two 20-week courses aligned to the winter/summer seasons. The 20-week course prepares participants to grow their own fruit and vegetables at home.
“Any interested group, family or individual over 18 can apply,” says Ms Belwalkar. So far some 100 25m x 2m plots have been allocated with 353 enrolled in the popular summer programme.
A new batch of people is allocated to the individual plots for each season. And a new season will start in March. “We have a manager for every site and I manage the Mangere site,” Ms Belwalkar says. “I would like to invite the Indian community to avail of this opportunity as it not only helps you learn the skills to grow fruit and veggies but also promotes outdoor exercise and bonding with family members. Moreover you can take the seeds home and grow your own veggies and fruit and look after them after learning the techniques here.”
Several South Asian families have availed of previous opportunities. “We have had Indians from Fiji, India, people from Bangladesh, South East Asia and of course Pacific and Maori people. It has really been a great experience to be involved in this project,” she adds.
Nearly two-dozen varieties of vegetables and fruits are grown at the gardens besides a colourful variety of flowers. While people take the produce home for personal use, many have been donating excess produce to a range of food banks around the city. “This has benefited even the community at large,” says Ms Belwalkar.
What about security concerns? That has been taken care of by the appointment of guardians at some of the sites. Also, the presence of student activity at most times during the day has resulted in almost no vandalism. Some neighbours as in the case of the Middlemore site in particular have virtually “adopted” the project.
Beginning with just four plots, the council has added two more recently taking the number up to six. These are located in East Tamaki, Mangere Centre Park, Old School Reserve in Mangere, Middlemore Reserve, Stadium Reserve in Papatoetoe, and Walter Massey Park in Mangere East.
According to Ms Belwalkar, the programme’s business plan targets 2000 households to have established a home garden over 4 years. This would mean potentially reaching 7000 people if the uptake is 100%. Costs for achieving this by all agencies would probably be in region of $2 million.
Future plans for the project include a possible certificate from a recognised educational institution for the participants in the programme after conmpletion of the teaching gardens course.
There could also be a possibility of forming a garden and food process club where participants and those interested could meet with experts and exchange notes, learn advanced techniques and share experiences as also swap seeds and plants.
For more information about joining the project as a learner or a teacher, please contact Parks Booking Officer on 09 2637100 ext 8750 or email colin.foster@manukau.govt.nz
A unique Manukau City Council initiative to proactively address deepening health concerns in a large section of the population by promoting healthy eating is proving to be a great success, encouraging the council to expand the project.
Over the past 18 months or so, the council’s Manukau Parks...
A unique Manukau City Council initiative to proactively address deepening health concerns in a large section of the population by promoting healthy eating is proving to be a great success, encouraging the council to expand the project.
Over the past 18 months or so, the council’s Manukau Parks Growing for Health – Teaching Garden project has over 600 people now involved in its innovative programme.
“It’s pretty simple,” says Varsha Belwalkar, Manukau City Council Parks Ranger, who manages one of the six sites scattered across the city. “We provide garden plots, seeds and mentors to teach how to plant, grow and manage vegetable and fruit gardens and encourage people to grow their own kitchen gardens in their homes. And it is free.”
A staggering 74% of the local population is considered obese with 12,000 diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and a further 12,000 considered undiagnosed, Ms Belwalkar says.
And eating a healthy diet of mostly organically grown vegetables can go a long way in providing the required balance to a diet otherwise deficient in fibre and other valuable nutrients that come from veggies.
Considering the gravity of the situation to the population’s health and welfare, Manukau Parks committed to establishing eight teaching gardens in four wards of high deprivation over two years. The Manukau Parks Teaching Gardens project supports the Let’s Beat Diabetes Gardening for Health and Sustainability initiative.
The Manukau Parks model is one of experiential learning of basic horticultural husbandry techniques delivered by paid mentors. The mentors’ activities are coordinated and managed by Park Rangers like Ms Belwalkar who are assigned as site managers.
Plots are allocated to an individual or a group to grow vegetables for a season, and participants are taught a range of skills from seed germination through to harvesting. The project is based on two 20-week courses aligned to the winter/summer seasons. The 20-week course prepares participants to grow their own fruit and vegetables at home.
“Any interested group, family or individual over 18 can apply,” says Ms Belwalkar. So far some 100 25m x 2m plots have been allocated with 353 enrolled in the popular summer programme.
A new batch of people is allocated to the individual plots for each season. And a new season will start in March. “We have a manager for every site and I manage the Mangere site,” Ms Belwalkar says. “I would like to invite the Indian community to avail of this opportunity as it not only helps you learn the skills to grow fruit and veggies but also promotes outdoor exercise and bonding with family members. Moreover you can take the seeds home and grow your own veggies and fruit and look after them after learning the techniques here.”
Several South Asian families have availed of previous opportunities. “We have had Indians from Fiji, India, people from Bangladesh, South East Asia and of course Pacific and Maori people. It has really been a great experience to be involved in this project,” she adds.
Nearly two-dozen varieties of vegetables and fruits are grown at the gardens besides a colourful variety of flowers. While people take the produce home for personal use, many have been donating excess produce to a range of food banks around the city. “This has benefited even the community at large,” says Ms Belwalkar.
What about security concerns? That has been taken care of by the appointment of guardians at some of the sites. Also, the presence of student activity at most times during the day has resulted in almost no vandalism. Some neighbours as in the case of the Middlemore site in particular have virtually “adopted” the project.
Beginning with just four plots, the council has added two more recently taking the number up to six. These are located in East Tamaki, Mangere Centre Park, Old School Reserve in Mangere, Middlemore Reserve, Stadium Reserve in Papatoetoe, and Walter Massey Park in Mangere East.
According to Ms Belwalkar, the programme’s business plan targets 2000 households to have established a home garden over 4 years. This would mean potentially reaching 7000 people if the uptake is 100%. Costs for achieving this by all agencies would probably be in region of $2 million.
Future plans for the project include a possible certificate from a recognised educational institution for the participants in the programme after conmpletion of the teaching gardens course.
There could also be a possibility of forming a garden and food process club where participants and those interested could meet with experts and exchange notes, learn advanced techniques and share experiences as also swap seeds and plants.
For more information about joining the project as a learner or a teacher, please contact Parks Booking Officer on 09 2637100 ext 8750 or email colin.foster@manukau.govt.nz
Leave a Comment