The BFD | What Is Really Going On

Free NZ

freenz.substack.com

Hi everyone, food producer here. Just wanted to write an easily digestible post so people can understand how severe the destruction in Hawkes Bay is for the whole of New Zealand. The media aren’t really discussing it fully and people I speak to can’t seem to wrap their heads around how serious this is for us as a country.

What’s been lost: It’s called the fruit bowl for a reason, not just grapes and apples but also pears, onions, corn, carrots, blueberries, strawberries, honey, dairy, beef, sheep products including wool and also apiaries, nurseries and seedbanks.

Wineries and orchards have had heritage trees and vines utterly wiped out. We’re talking 30-40-year-old plants gone. Countless bee hives and fields of crops buried under a metre of silt.

These aren’t just for fresh produce but also wine, vinegar, honey, bread and processed fruit and vegetables for things from muesli bars to ice cream and condiments. The layer of silt now covering the once fertile land has been completely smothered. There’s so much cleaning up to be done before people can replant and fertilise it will take years to get back even close to normal.

In that time we’ll see massive shortages of all the above, affecting almost all food items you can think of.

Employment

Job losses will be huge. Hipkins stated they’re looking into business support payments to assist in wages but without trees to plant, prune or pick we’ll see massive job losses across the entire region. Secondary food production will also take a huge hit here. Without being able to source ingredients in their usual supply at their usual price, many food producers will really suffer here. Adding to the hurt, insurance companies will take literally years to pay out those primary producers affected and not nearly to the value of what is lost either. Secondary producers don’t have these protections at all so we’ll likely see a lot of these businesses on both sides really struggle to get back up to speed if not close completely.

Photo Credit to Jacob via Telegram – “Today’s job clearing sticky mud around a young pear orchard to save the trees.”

Food supplies and price increases

As mentioned earlier supplies in the supermarket will be massively affected by this. Many growers around New Zealand source their plants from seedbanks and nurseries in the Hawkes Bay. These folk have to order these seedlings a year in advance at least and now that they’re gone – they’re gone for a very long time. Strawberries, tomatoes, chillies, blueberries, broccoli, cabbages as well as leafy greens could be in short supply for at least a year. Food producers will be needing to import their raw ingredients to keep up with demand and with already shockingly high prices due to shipping – the end user ie. us will be paying significantly more for all grocery items.

This is just the surface level and I think we’ll be hearing a lot of discussion going over these points in the next few weeks and months.

How you can help

Monetary donations are massive here towards helping the clean up as it’s the first step towards getting the entire country back on track. I’ll recommend the Hawkes Bay Mayoral Disaster fund, Let’s not forget HUHA and the SPCA who are doing great work all across the region.

Individual give-a-littles I wouldn’t recommend however places like Koanga seed bank need a lot of help right now.

Spread the word even if just by word of mouth and try to get people more aware of how crucial this time is. The longer we wait to help out, no matter how small, the longer it’ll take for us as a community to get back to normal. The people I know in the region are out there on diggers in knee-high mud with shovels digging out homes, dead livestock and throwing away treasured items like photo albums and doorframes with their kid’s height charts on them before the rot and mould set in. They’re normal people doing their best to show a brave face to one another so words of kindness and support are hugely helpful and a massive morale boost to everyone on the ground.

Photo credit to Jacob via Telegram – “This is the sort of stuff you see – vehicle has had its mag wheels stolen while the owners are dealing with their flooded lives.”

Thanks to Counterspin Media for this nationwide list of Cyclone Gabrielle Supplies Drop off Points & Distribution Centers

Cyclone Gabrielle Supplies Drop off Points & Distribution Centers

Auckland

Falloons Stock Foods – Dairy Flat
Saddlery Warehouse – Albany
Saddlery Warehouse – Kumeu
Paws Restart – Kumeu
Horselands – Dury
Alice & John 027rescue1 – delivered by Rodney Animal Rescue
06-03830980543-00 Hawkes Bay relief

Hamilton

Hamilton Girls High School
Kinetic Electrical – 6 Manchester Place Te Rapa

Raglan

Heartys Fishing – (to be transported to Lakeview Helicopters)

Tauranga

Tauranga Aero club – no longer doing flights but accepting donations to cover costs.

Rotorua

Hello Stranger Cafe – 1149 Pukuatua Street 072626104

Paeroa

Scottys Wheels & Tyres

Tokaroa

G White Logging Ltd – 12 Giles Street

Taupo

Lakeview Helicopters – 799 Anzac Memorial Drive

New Plymouth

The cow sheds – Sutton road Omata ( fencing supplies only) (Anneka 021404642)

Napier

William Colenso College gym – 17 Morris Spence ave Onekawa
Pukemokimoki Marae Riverbend Rd, Onekawa
Taradale Primary School – 10 Church Road
Shona VFF Napier 0272213631
Leao Tildsley 0277111039 – 81 Gloucester Street Greenmeadows Napier

Hastings

Hastings showgrounds 06 3915476
Hastings sport centre
Michael Nguhuka 0212165682 508 Railway road Hastings
Jenny Marshall 08001MANUP
Rev Jill McDonald 0274070489 St Andrews Presbyterian Church Hastings

Gisborne

Gisborne Council
Te Karaka School
Shaws Wire Ropes Ltd
DG Logging Ltd

To volunteer – https://gisbornevolunteercentre.org.nz/contact

Website for coordinating volunteer support – www.hawkesbayhelping.org

For those of you whose pantry is bare, or if you are out of town and want to help, please consider donating funds to local groups that are helping the families who are most affected. Below are two established registered charities that are directly connected to families, strictly local, primarily volunteer-driven, and have proven their effectiveness through these challenging days:

Nourished for Nil.

Collects and redistributes fresh, packaged and frozen food at four locations in Napier and Hastings.
– Bank Details: 03-0642-0026560-00
– Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/nourishedfornil/
– Givealittle donate link – https://givealittle.co.nz/org/nourished-for-nil-ltd

Re-Source Hawke’s Bay.

Collects and redistributes used furniture, soft goods and clothing.
– Bank Details: 12-3145-0233634-00
– Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/resourcehb/
– Donate link – https://www.re-source.co.nz/shop/product/586799/donatio

From
Alexia at PHA