The Future is Local - June 2024 Newsletter
Welcome to the Biome Newsletter, June edition - featuring updates from our Giftees & local ecosystem.
As natural disasters and global conflicts threaten global food supply chains, it becomes clear that growing and supporting locally produced food systems are one of the most effective ways we can build community resilience and inter-dependence in our local bioregions.
As Ancient Futures author Helena Norberg Hodge of Local Futures says, “to be truly ecological, the economy has to be localised.”
The future, is local.
Local food systems minimize packaging, transport, and chemicals, eco-sourced trees from the local bio-region grow better when planted, and locally produced goods encourage local economy.
Local, heirloom seeds, carrying inside them knowledge of the bioregional seasons, are a taonga to be treasured especially in a time where introduced GMOs threaten New Zealand’s soils.
As we prepare to celebrate World Localization Day on Friday, June 21, coinciding with the winter solstice, and also the rising of the Matariki star cluster, a significant event in the Māori calendar, we are reminded that cultivating the soil, and nurturing our local communities and ecosystems, are critical for the protection of Papatūānuku, our Earth Mother, ensuring a sustainable legacy for future generations.
Please enjoy this monthly collection of updates from our local ecosystem.
Ngā mihi aroha
- Biome Trust
Giftee Updates
Local Futures has produced the inspirational short film Closer to Home - featuring well known voices of hope in a time of crisis. Watch
Mangaroa Farm Shop / Kete Kai is now open from Wednesday - Sunday until 5pm, hosting a range of locally produced food. More
Kōanga Institute is hosting a One Day Propagation Workshop 29th June - learn to propograte fruit and nut trees, & create heritage bioregional orchards. More
Papawhakaritorito Trust’s Dr Jessica Hutchings and Erin Matariki Carr discuss whakapapa, the dangers of GMOs, & the Mana Wahine Declaration on Seed & Soil. Watch
Kai Cycle Urban Farm is hosting a Matariki celebration Sat 29th June, harvesting kai from the gardens for a shared community kai. More
Mangaroa Farms is hiring a Farm Manager to lead farm operations at their regenerative food hub & education centre. More
Toru Education features a range of winter events, including permaculture, fermentation & the dynamics of capitalism. More
Tiwaiwaka’s Rob McGowan features in Our Place Magazine on six key principles to restoring the mauri (life force) of the whenua (land). More
Happen Films documents The Plummery, a backyard permaculture garden which at only 100m² produces over 400kg/900 pounds of food per year. Watch
Earth Law Centre presents the short film Last Stand: Saving the Elwha River's Legacy Forests. Watch
Stop Ecocide highlights an Ecocide Bill recently introduced in Peruvian Parliament. More
One Earth features Urban Gardens to Agrihoods: The rise of agricultural neighborhoods for food security in Detroit. More
Regen Network co-founder Greogry Landua features on the Future Fossils Podcast. More
Ma Earth interviews Helena Norberg-Hodge, founder of Local Futures on global trade treaties, and the global-to-local paradigm shift. More
Vagabond Vege CSA Boxes, now combined with We are Little Farms.
Additional News
Vagabond Vege & We Are Little Farms in the Wairarapa have joined forces with Te Manaia Organics to pool resources and work together on their local CSA vege boxes. More
Living by the Stars Professor Rangi Matamua (Tūhoe) a pioneering Māori scholar, shares kōrero on the upcoming celebration of Matariki in Aotearoa NZ. More
Predator Free Wellington features on The Post Weekend edition, covering unfolding weekly aspects of the battle against rats and stoats and weasels being fought across the city. More
Ora Online - Renowned wellbeing practitioner Donna Kerridge recently launched the much anticipated Ora Online Rongoā Māori course. More
The Sustainability Trust highlights Otaihanga Zero Waste centre in Kapiti, working to reduce construction and community waste. More
Ariki Estate are hosting Re:Generate - Party with Purpose, a tree-planting, food & music festival 28-30 June. More
Kiwi have been recorded near Mangaroa Farms in Whitemans Valley, Upper Hutt - bolstering local pest control initiatives. More
Buy Local 🥦 Featuring a list of weekend Farmers Markets from across Aotearoa New Zealand. More
“Economic localization is the key to sustaining biological and cultural diversity – to sustaining life itself. The sooner we shift towards the local, the sooner we will begin healing our planet, our communities and ourselves.”
