In Hawke’s Bay, food trading platform Magic Beans is doing its best to combat the rising cost of food and interpersonal disconnection in some communities.
It has been going strong on social media for the past seven years, providing a space for people to swap or donate their home-grown fruit and veggies, or even trade a wheelbarrow of compost for some gardening advice.
Magic Beans has 5000 local members, and its co-founders hope a new app will take it nationwide.
Clare Plug has lived in her house in Maraenui, Napier for more than 40 years and her garden is teeming with life – from a huge feijoa tree to salad greens, chillis, apples and mandarins, and plenty of birds.
At times, she said she found herself with more fruit and vegetables than she knew what to do with, and thinks she has harvested 100 kilograms from one mandarin tree.
Meanwhile, on supermarket shelves, food prices were on the rise.
“I saw a man in the supermarket the other day,” Plug said. “He had a little tray of chillis and a bunch of coriander and some greens, and I felt like saying, ‘Do you want to come to my place?’”
Until now, Magic Beans members have been able to connect on Facebook and the website.
Business co-founder Sarah Grant said the new app would open up the platform to communities all around the country, and eventually, the globe.
It was free to join and use, but a subscription version would also give access to a resource library with location-based planting guides and tips, Grant said.
She stressed people did not need to have a huge garden or be expert gardeners to join – in fact, many beginners found the community to be a huge help with getting their gardens thriving.
It helped people to build a community, share and find information about what grew best in their area while reducing the distance food travelled from garden to plate, she said.
“One of the things that quite often happens when you do a swap with Magic Beans is that you’ll get a spontaneous garden tour, which is fantastic. Us gardeners love to look at each other’s gardens and get some tips and tricks. It’s quite common that you’ll get a cutting or some seeds as well as what you intended to swap for.”