Jan 25th, 2010
The drive from Auckland to Waihi beach took a leisurely 2 hrs. Waihi is a vacation beach town with proper amenities and a backwoodsy feel. In Auckland, access to internet available in certain spots, but since leaving the big, bustling city, internet has been virtually non-existent and people look genuinely puzzled when we ask where we can access it. (We get similar confusion when we ask where the library is. We are at a library further south in Te Puke right now and internet is $8NZD/hr, which is about $6USD/hr!!).
So, making do with what we had, we headed for the beach to look for surf. The waves were small and offshore winds were howling but we decided to park the van anyway. During our two nights here, we got a couple fun sessions in and went on a beautiful hike overlooking the sea. The small north lot we parked in was busy by New Zealand standards and after spending some time here, noticed how clean our surroundings were. The bathrooms were well ventilated, stone floors kept clean and there was always soap by the sink. There were two average sized garbage cans for the whole lot. We were here through the weekend and it is the last few days of the holiday season, so it’s not that people weren’t around. They were. With loads of beach gear and food. But with these basic facilities, this public beach was kept clear of plastic bottles and junk food bags. (I will note here that junk food is abundant as well as a wide variety of energy drinks.)
However clean Waihi beach is, they lack a market for fresh fish. We searched and found nothing. We asked around and got that confused look again (“I reckon you can find it in the sea!” replied the jolly bread man). This still seems odd to me. Why can we not buy fresh fish at a beach town? Surely there is a market for it, there are multiple fish and chips shops on and off the strip (one shop did sell fresh fish but they were “out until Tuesday”, which made me think they shipped it from elsewhere. And we missed the Sunday market so maybe it is sold there).

We are now in Te Puke, furiously using internet to post our blogs and move along. We have contacted a couple WWOOF farms further south in the Gisborne region and are waiting for a response. Pictures will be coming soon!

Jan 23rd, 2010

We have been adjusting to life here in New Zealand. I must say I had high expectations of what my experience related to food would be like…maybe a little too high. The weekly farmers markets we have come to depend on for our produce in Seattle have been hard for us to find here (but I am SURE they are around). Aside from a fresh produce shop in Auckland, we end up buying our food stuffs in an everyday, everywhere supermarket. The supermarket itself is a worldwide phenomenon and they all have the same components. Profit maximizing layouts (dairy and meat at the back of the store so you have to walk through isles of tempting, catchy stuff on your way to the necessities), bright fluorescent lights so the products glow, and consumer friendly muzak. I have been reading in the book Stuffed and Starved;the Hidden Battle for the World Food System by Raj Patel that there is actually an academic discipline devoted to “reconciling the facts of the retail environment with their perception by shoppers.” It is called the study of ‘atomospherics’.

I like to think that food distribution systems were originally developed in the best interest of consumers and farmers, but sometimes that is not the case. Take the history of the supermarket for example. Traditional grocery stores required a clerk that gathered groceries for each individual customer. The stores made little profit because overhead was relatively large. As the gold rush gave way to agriculture, self-service grocery stores began to gain popularity in the west. To further the transition, food prices skyrocketed after the US joined WWI and riots ensued in the east, putting more financial pressure on grocers. Then, in 1916, Clarence Saunders opened the first King Piggly Wiggly, where shoppers helped themselves to groceries by pushing carts through a designated path through the store. This cut labor costs considerably while taking advantage of the human tendency to take more than we may need because there are no limits set; all while exposing the customer to every item in the store. As time moves on, we see the ‘self-serving grocery store’ concept further profiting by taking advantage of economies of scale as the modern supermarket chains we all recognize the world over- Safeway, Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, etc.

Greetings from Aotearoa, The Land of the Long White Cloud

Hi, and welcome to my blog!

After a smooth trip across the Pacific Ocean, we've arrived safely at our hostel (Bamber House in Mt. Eden) in Auckland, NZ. It's comfortably muggy and the sun is shining bright. Flying into Auckland reminded us of Seattle. This city is very green and interlaced with water. We are staying here for 5 days, during which time we will buy a campervan and set up our first farm stay. Stay tuned for more details on that...

I am really looking forward to posting about our farm stay experiences as well as issues related to food and food politics as it relates to my experience on organic farms here. I welcome and encourage your feedback on my posts. Are there topics you like, and would like to hear more about? Or did I leave something out? I'd love to hear from you all!

Thanks for visiting and stay tuned,
CC