Meeting the need

WELLBEING IS OFTEN TAKEN FOR GRANTED, UNLESS YOU ARE IN A RUT, THE WHEELS ARE FALLING OFF AND LIFE IS A DAILY STRUGGLE. FOR GOLDEN BAY DAIRY FARMER, WAYNE LANGFORD, HAVING THE WHEELS FALL OFF TURNED OUT TO BE ONE OF THE BEST THINGS THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED, NOT ONLY TO HIM, BUT TO THE HUNDREDS OF NEW ZEALAND FAMILIES WHO HE HAS BEEN ABLE TO HELP.

WORDS BY RACHAEL RICKARD, IMAGES SUPPLIED

On Wayne Langford’s 34th birthday he had, what he describes as, an out of body experience. One which made him question everything about his life. As dairy farmer, husband to Tyler and father to three boys, Lewis (14), Gordie (12) and Alfie (11), Wayne puts it “We were in a rut, and mentally, I was in a horrible spot. I thought ‘what am I doing here, I’ve got to get us out of this.” So, in 2017 the Langford family set out to change. They decided that for the next 365 days they would challenge themselves to “have ‘lived’ by the end of every day!” They embarked on a journey of self-discovery, love, giving, gratitude, pride, and learning. They launched the YOLO Farmer Facebook page and a year later they agreed they didn’t want to stop. Three years on, hundreds of adventures and over 25,000 followers later, YOLO Farmer is a thriving online community with the Langford’s sharing their stories, which link to the Five Ways to Wellbeing. The Five Ways to Wellbeing were created through the New Economics Foundation’s Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing research report. The review of the most up-to-date evidence found that building five actions into our daily lives is important for the wellbeing of individuals, families, communities, and organisations. These are: 1. Connect, me whakawhanaunga; 2. Give, tukua; 3. Take notice, me aro tonu; 4. Keep learning, me ako tonu; 5. Be active, me kori tonu. Fast forward to day 556 of YOLO Farmer, Wayne found himself with two heifers needing to be put down and more meat than he needed. He was living closely aligned with ‘giving’ and ‘taking notice’ that he realised no one in Golden Bay should go hungry, and he knew he could do something about it. “I called the local foodbank, and a few things became apparent. Firstly, a cull cow would last the foodbank an entire year and although volunteers were incredibly grateful it was hard for them to deal with the various cuts and volume of meat from a beast in one go. Logistically hard for foodbanks to manage an unexpected one-off bulk supply of meat. Secondly, for this to make a real difference, what the foodbanks needed was the right cuts of meat and definite food security,” Wayne said. “I thought about it and there is no real reason why anyone in New Zealand should go hungry. The best gift we, as farmers, can give to any Mum or Dad who is struggling, is a hand to put a meal on the table for their kids,” Wayne said. And thus, the concept of Meat the Need was born.

WHAT IS MEAT THE NEED?

Meat the Need is a national Charitable Trust designed to supply meat to City Missions and food banks. The meat is donated by farmers, processed, packed, and delivered to those most

in need. Whilst there has been a need for a charity like this, Wayne realised that to date there had been nothing to connect the dots between a willing farmer with the livestock and the community organisations with the demand in a regular, reliable supply. If Wayne is the idea’s man, then friend, fellow Dairy Farmer and co-founder of Meat the Need, Siobhan O’Malley is across the details. Siobhan and husband Christopher had been hop growers in Motueka, crowned Share Farmers of the Year at the 2017 NZ Dairy Industry Awards and they have several private businesses. “I knew Siobhan would be the right person to run the idea by. So, I rang her one day and we meet for coffee. Siobhan didn’t hesitate to get involved and to be honest, without her, we wouldn’t have got this off the ground.” Siobhan and Wayne contacted foodbanks around the South Island and met with the team at Christchurch City Mission to see what was needed. “Ideally what they wanted 500gm packs of mince. They are easy to handle and pack, and they have a consistent value, making it simpler for foodbanks to distribute and allocate to families,” said Wayne. Having a good idea was one thing, but Wayne needed buy in from a large meat processor with a national supply chain, and thanks to an invitation to speak as YOLO Farmer at the Grow 2019 Boma Agri Summit, the was opportunity presented. Sitting in the audience at that Summit was Justin Courtney, Head of Communications and Sustainability at Silver Fern Farms. Wayne describes the meeting with Justin as a pivotal moment in the journey. “I met Justin in April 2019 and he understood the concept straight away, not only that he was 100% behind it. Then in October we applied to the Ministry for Primary Industries for a sustainable food development grant, by March 2020 we were looking to launch. Then along came COVID, which turned out to be both a blessing and curse.” “When lockdown hit, I had calls from farmers who wanted to help. Nightly on the news we were seeing that foodbanks were struggling. Statistics showed there was over four times the demand for food, with demand even higher in Auckland. Thanks to Zoom the Board of Meat the Need were able to work through the final supply chain logistics with Silver Fern Farms, so on 17 April 2020 we could officially launch.”

HOW CAN FARMERS DONATE?

There are two ways to donate. Firstly, by allocating livestock—cattle, sheep, or deer—directly through Silver Fern Farms. Farmers call their Silver Fern Farms agent when they are arranging stock to go to processing, advise how many head they wish to donate, and the agent takes care of the rest. For farmers not suppliers to Silver Fern Farms, donations can easily be made through the website. Farmers can donate a virtual animal when they next supply their stock and once, they have received their kill sheet, donate the value of an animal through a cash donation via the website. 100% of farmers livestock or cash donation goes to supplying meat. Any operational costs that the charity has is sourced from other donations.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Once a donation of livestock or cash is received the Meat the Need account is credited with the value of the donation. From here the charity use the credit to draw down stocks of 500gm mince packs. Silver Fern Farms process 5 tonnes of meat into mince at a time, with the packs stacked into 12kg cartons and stored until required. Each month foodbanks put their orders through, these are collated, and then distributed by Silver Fern Farms across the country to, currently, over 35 food banks. For organisations who are feeding hungry New Zealanders, they can Request Meat through the Meat the Need website: www.meattheneed.org

ZERO HUNGER: A DECADE OF ACTION

In September 2019, the United Nations SecretaryGeneral called on “all sectors of society to mobilise for a decade of action on three levels: global action to secure greater leadership, more resources and smarter solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals; local action embedding the needed transitions in the policies, budgets, institutions and regulatory frameworks of governments, cities and local authorities; and people action, including by youth, civil society, the media, the private sector, unions, academia and other stakeholders, to generate an unstoppable movement pushing for the required transformations.” The second (of 17) UN Sustainable Development Goals is Zero Hunger: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. Meat the Need is a charity, whose origins were perhaps not born of the goal of ending hunger in New Zealand, but who’s action will help enable New Zealand as a society to achieve this.

DOING THE RIGHT THING

From Silver Fern Farms perspective, Meat the Need is a perfect fit for their values. They state “we believe Silver Fern Farms can create positive change for our environment, our people, and our communities. With 14 processing sites across the country, we are perfectly placed to help Meat the Need take donations all the way through the supply chain— from the farmer to the recipient. We’re proud to support Meat the Need in making that a reality.” For Ruralco Board Chair, Jessie Chan, who is also a Board member of Meat the Need, getting involved with Meat the Need was a way to give back. “Wayne got in touch with me as we were on the National Dairy Executive together at Federated Farmers and he figured I had some of the skills they need for the Meat the Need Trust Board. I see it as a very worthy cause as we have an abundance of amazing kai in New Zealand and we have the opportunity to give a little bit of it back so that no New Zealand families go hungry.” The co-operative model is the heart of Ruralco’s foundation and Ms Chan see’s synergies between the two organisations “at Ruralco, a group of farmers got together to solve a problem—better pricing for farm supplies. Meat the Need is a group of farmers getting together to solve the problem of helping feed New Zealanders, through innovation, partnering and generosity,” she said. “It is easy to get involved and give some meat! Just go to the website and commit a beast from your farm, and you will be part of the solution—helping to feed vulnerable families and putting more of NZs great protein source in the bellies of our children.” Meat the Need has received many accolades in its short time including 2020 Sustainable Business Awards Finalist, 2020 NZ Food Hero’s Finalist and winner of the 2020 Primary Industry of New Zealand Champions Award. And the Charitable Trust is not done. In January 2021 Meat the Need announced a partnership with North Island milk processor Miraka on project Feed Out. With the goal of donating UHT milk to families in need, Feed Out begun with supply across the Central Plateau and South Waikato. Donations can be made in the same way, via the website, again with all proceeds going direct to food banks and community groups who feed those in need. In summing up the road so far Wayne says “We have now received over 720 animals, provided over 350,000 meals, have launched Feed Out (the milk version) and have connected up the dots between farmers who want to give and families who need a hand. For farmers it is about giving what we can, when we can, but for a mother who can’t feed her children it is everything”.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Meat the Need www.meattheneed.org Feed Out www.feedout.org Mental Health Foundation www.mentalhealth.org.nz Need To Talk? Free call or text 1737 to talk or text with a trained counsellor. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/