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Launching the Waikato Community Garden
Launching the Waikato Community Garden
One of the
answers to fighting obesity lies on the land and for Waikato
people a suitable climate and the appointment of Kathryn
Mercer to lead a new community gardens project will go
someway towards winning the battle of the flab.
Waikato District Health Board's Healthy Eating Healthy Action (HEHA) programme is making it easier for people in the community to access healthy food.
The Waikato Community Gardens Project will use Waikato's ideal growing climate to establish a sustainable resource for use by several community groups.
Increased physical activity and improved nutrition are the key to achieving a healthy weight for all New Zealanders so a diet of home grown vegetables can help overcome Waikato's obesity epidemic.
Waikato DHB Pacific Development Manager Elizabeth Powell and Pacific Community Project manager Anne Fitsemanu are working with Kaute Pasifika, a Waikato Pacific health provider, to lead the project.
Kaute CEO Laupepe Peta Karalus recently
appointed Kathryn Mercer to manage the project and she is in
charge of turning a year's planning into a productive
resource.
Kathryn's introduction to the skills and benefits of gardening came as a young woman growing up on the classic kiwi quarter acre where her family grew the bulk of their own fruit and vegetables; she relishes the opportunity to combine her interest in edible landscapes with her experience in the social and information service sectors.
"Being self-reliant through growing your own food in a different climate is challenging enough without cultural and language differences as well. This project will not only provide fresh, healthy, affordable food and improved physical health, but will improve mental health through exercise, broaden social networks and skill development," she said.
[cid:image003.jpg@01CC4BCA.F5B6B2D0]"The project can provide land for those whose landlords do not permit gardening as well as a place to share knowledge and resources for example swapping seeds, produce and recipes."
The idea behind the community gardens project is to get Pacific, refugee, and new migrant communities involved in planning, building, and maintaining sustainable vegetable and fruit gardens.
Bringing these communities together is a positive step not only towards building productive gardens, but also because it brings together groups of ethnically diverse people who generally have high health needs and through shared experiences will become an integrated community, focused on promoting healthy lifestyles together.
First task for Kathryn will be to ensure there is sufficient land available and assign specific jobs so that everyone can start thinking about how they will approach the build.
The task of creating a sustainable garden for such a large and diverse group will involve lots of consideration. The gardens will start from scratch. HEHA will fund the acquisition of tools, materials, and plants and K'aute Pasifika will run the project.
K'aute are a community owned, highly mobile provider of primary health care and social services for Pacific and other populations of high needs. In terms of their agreements and where they are expected to provide services their coverage includes the entire Waikato DHB region.
Their support of the Pacific provider in Tokoroa and an outreach health service to Bennydale are examples of their rural commitments.
[cid:image006.jpg@01CC4BCA.F5B6B2D0]Their health services include general practice through Radius Health, Pacific family nursing, whanau ora - Pacific community health worker to support people with chronic disease conditions, Tamariki ora/ well child, outreach immunisation for children aged 6 years and under, child and youth mental health, Pacific home visiting for high needs families, and a quit smoking programme.
The garden project provides an example of integrated services where multiple providers can work collaboratively to overcome the fragmentation of services that currently exists in Waikato. The Hamilton Multicultural Services Trust (HMS) is another HEHA community that will help with the build and share the benefits of the garden project.
A community meeting on July 13 began the journey towards harvest celebrations at the NESIAN & Indigo Festivals starting in March 2012. Seasonal crops mean the garden will be continually active and require ongoing attention from the communities involved. Each stage of the project will see Waikato HEHA's message put into practice.
Aere Ki Mua or the Waikato Pasifika Church Programme is about promoting HEHA's message of healthy lifestyles into churches, which regularly see a large turn out of Pacific people. For Pacific communities, living an active and healthy lifestyle is about taking who they are and instilling the positive messages into their everyday life.
The garden project will be an important part of Aere Ki Mua by promoting physical activity during the build and nutrition once the crops are ready.
ends
Waikato District Health Board
Healthy People. Excellent Care
Waikato District Health Board (DHB) employs over 6500 people and plans, funds and provides hospital and health services to more than 391,770 people in a region covering eight per cent of New Zealand.
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