YOUR INDUSTRY
LEVIN GROWERS BACK INITIATIVE TO FIND WORK FOR LOCAL PEOPLE Words by Hugh Chesterman
Jay Clarke in the chiller showing Year 10 students how vegetables get from paddock to supermarket shelf
Vegetable growers in the Levin area are right behind an initiative to ensure that everyone in Levin has the opportunity to work in the region. The Horowhenua New Zealand Trust has been set up to improve the social and economic well-being of the community and ensure that the Horowhenua economy provides work opportunities for all local people,” says Sarah Ryan of the Trust. An important plank of the Trust’s effort has been the establishment of Get-Go. “Get-Go has been created to connect people with the work they want, and employers with the people they need,” says Shane Gorinski of Get-Go. “Get-Go is supported with government funding, managed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Kānoa – Regional Economic Development and Investment Unit. “We’re really fortunate that we’ve had great support from local growers. Woodhaven Gardens has come on board, and is providing high school students with the hands-on opportunity to see what commercial vegetable growing is like and what careers are available to them.”
18 NZGROWER : JULY 2021
As part of the partnership with Get-Go, Woodhaven Gardens has set up a trial block for Horowhenua College horticulture students. “We’ve given the class two acres to run as commercial vegetable growing,” says Woodhaven Gardens director, Jay Clarke. “The students have to choose what they want to put in the ground. To start, we’ve given them a soil sample. They have to decide how they want to test it, and then analyse the result and decide what to plant. “They’re not just learning how to grow a crop. They're also learning about the economics of growing. Once they’ve chosen their crop, they’ll do a budget and we’ll track against that budget. Hopefully they get a bit of life experience out of it and learn more about the industry that’s right on their doorstep.
They’re not just learning how to grow a crop. They're also learning about the economics of growing
