Finding our Local Food

Where do we start?

Do we simply wander around our neighbourhood knocking on doors of people I think might have a garden?

How do we help people who aren't computer savvy enough to just join up online?

Do we take a form with us so they can just fill one out with a pen?

What would be on that form?

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  • gidday guys

    I had have bit of exoerience in both worlds a mate of mine started the outautahi urban forages group which is a pretty great way for all us srumpers to access food, get in contact with kerry as hes got a bit of freetime and may be able to help you guys out with doing this for waiheke ?

    When trying to find food if you don't want to just eat virtual oranges is that you need to get out and about and so this is where urban mapping and community gardens comes in Margaret Jefferies form Lyttelton community gardens has been involved in this process and getting Geography students form uni to do this makes a lot of sense, but then its quite fun traveling around talking to neighbours about their trees.

    What we did was organise a swap meet and we swaped veges and produce lemonade etc every weekend i borrowed the concept from Ooooby, we used the Community gardens as the site. thanks for that .


    been typing away and then read through the thread you guys seem to be after the connectivity of members rather than mapping food?
    Earl raises a few good points around skills and tools and why we are growing food in our back yards, However as Ooooby seems to be supporting the life boat option for humanity possibly resilience needs to me worked out on a few more levels as the internet is reliant on enerrgy and this may not be reliable as we would like it to be some years down the track , i like Petes idea about ambassadors as this is very pragmatic and encourages the learning of new skills in and organic way but then there are duffers like me who waited nearly two hours for a photo to up load grrr and it didn't workshops and or how tos etc online about how to add a this or that for different platforms might be the answer for muppets like me.

    i like the idea of bringing more Oooby stuff down South
  • I agree that we start with what we have, i.e. a web based communications tool. And yes there is a tool in development right now that will make it mobile phoneable. Can't say exactly when it will be released but we're working on it.

    I really like the idea of oby ambassadors who reach out to non-tech food growers and assist them to get started on paper. If we have a paper form which basically requests the same information as when you sign up online, then it's just a matter of asking your neighbour to fill in the form. Then if the ambassador is willing to enter the data, that person is now in the system and adding to the pool for everyone. I realise that it's extra work for the ambassador, but you would only need to do it to get the ball rolling in your area. The next trick would be to start a weekly get together at someone's house where new information can be updated, new possible members could sign up on the spot. If we aim to facilitate lots of local weekly meet ups, the information will start to flow and the coaching/training people to use this online tool may naturally occur.
  • Basically I think we need to start where we are and accept that the system wont be perfect. yes, some people wont have internet access, others, like my neighbour with the quinces and fiejoas and persimmons probably wont be an oooobyist by is happy for me to put her resources into the system and be the contact point. I'm happy to do that on a personal basis, but I don;'t think we should try to institutionalise it.

    The point of Ooooby is that it can only work at this stage by being online, so we should be focusing on those who are online and willing to use these tools to start creating the network. If we can reach a level of density of Ooooby activity, the Oooobiversity, the Open Homes, the permablitzes, the garage stalls and, as part of that, the bumper/mailbox stickers and posters, people will begin to see Ooooby stuff around them and feel more comfortable about doing what it takes to get involved.

    If we can also point them to support for getting access that doesn't involve Ooobyists taking calls, transcribing lists etc we will be away.

    Perhaps we do a leaflet drop in the neigbourhood but make the reply via the website. That way we connect those who have and use their internet connection.

    Just another thought on Hester's point. A fundamental thing about Ooooby is that we are encouraging each other to take personal responsibility for our own food production and to share those surpluses. we are doing this because many of us believe that the present system has reached the point where its unsustainability is breaking it and we need to make big changes in the way we live, work and communicate with each other.

    Learning to use new tools, spades, watering cans, greenhouses, dehydrators, solar ovens etc will be part of that and will be mandatory for survival. The Internet is just another new tool to use, what we have to do is make access to it reasonable and reasons for taking it up, compelling.
  • Good point Hester. can we hook up with an organisation like SeniorNet for older potential Ooobyists?

    Pete, is there something about that we could use to connect Ooby users by mobile? I know its not the perfect solution, but a lot more people have and use txt than are comfortable with the web. Is there an email to txt/txt to email platform that people could subscribe to?
  • I think the computer savvy aspect is daunting to quite a few people. We have has a few locally who found it difficult to stay in touch that way. I've been thinking we probably need to use phone contact for these people too. Some people asked for a workshop about how to do Ooooby stuff online.
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