A local culture of giving #farmvoices #NorthlandNZ

A few months back one of the Maungaturoto locals came up with the idea that food should be free and thus Maungaturoto Crop Circle came into being. Every Thursday at the local kids playground a group of people from all over gather together bringing the excess they've grown in their garden. Everything from eggs to vegetables and fruit. I took home some chilli jam, and a jar of cucumber pickle. My contribution was some parsley seeds and some succulent plants. All sorts of things get given away at the weekly crop circle gathering. Not just that it's a great way to catch up with people and get to know some new folks as well.

Actually I can't get over the generosity people can show. In a world full of the old "Greed is good" concept a quiet culture of change within communities is going on. People have become tired of having the every man for himself attitude, and have chosen now to go and help each other. Out there in the wider world every day people end up homeless and without any means to feed themselves. As I've grown older over the last few years I've started to question why society is geared so people are missing out on the basics of life. It's staggering the amount of perfectly good food that gets thrown out every day by the large chainstore supermarkets. Literally thousands of tons of food that people could eat end up being processed for animal feed.

I think our society does need to change. There seems to be a few haves and a lot of have-nots out in the world. I don't like the idea that somewhere out there tonight will be a family or an individual going without because they don't have the means to pay for food. We need to learn again how to grow our own vegetables and fruit even if it's in a pot. What do you think?  I'm all for sharing the bounty that comes out of the home or farm garden. Hopefully next year we will be overflowing with fruit and vegetables we can share at the Crop Circle. Hope everyone has had a great Thursday. I know I certainly have.