Celebrating a decade of partnership with T&G
At Garden to Table, we believe in empowering tamariki to grow, harvest, prepare, and share fresh kai to build healthy habits, skills for life, and a sustainable future.
10 years ago, T&G - who grow and export apples and other produce, came on board with this mission, and have since played an irreplaceable role in making it all possible.
We simply wouldn’t be where we are today without them, and we are so thrilled to celebrate a decade of partnership together.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing a series of stories that highlight the impact we’ve created together - beginning with this reflection on our journey to date, and on our recent working bee at Colwill Kindergarten.
Ten years ago, our journey with T&G began with a shared vision to make a difference in the lives of young New Zealanders.
Back then, we worked with 21 schools, reaching 2,500 ākonga (students). Over the past 10 years, we have expanded our horizons significantly - and today, we collaborate with 300 schools, and touch the lives of 30,000 children.
This has only been possible thanks to the unwavering support of T&G.
Over the years, they have provided us with vital support in many shapes and forms.
They sponsored a number of Garden to Table schools, including Ōropi School and Ruakākā School (whose journeys we look forward to sharing in coming weeks).
In 2017 and 2018, they sponsored the Young Grower Awards (which recognised the efforts of five young gardeners from across the motu, and a selection of schools passionate about growing and preparing nutritious produce).
In 2021, they collaborated with us to create a fantastic new teaching resource, which explored the journey of a JAZZ™ apple.
Over recent years, T&G have invited Garden to Table ākonga to ask their growers all about their jobs, to help them understand what it’s like making a living from growing produce. The growers’ answers and insights were turned into a resource for schools.
T&G’s regular ‘growers visits’ have also been a popular feature over the years - with T&G growers heading into Garden to Table schools to roll up their sleeves and muck-in with tamariki to grow, cook, and share kai together. This experience plants the seed for a vocational journey, and shows ākonga (students) the links between what happens in school gardens, and what happens at a large and commercial scale.
Earlier this year, members of the T&G executive team took part in Garden to Table with students in schools in Auckland and Napier. This was a great opportunity for the team to get stuck into the kitchen and garden - and it was enjoyed by all.
Our Celebration Event
This week, we celebrated ten years of partnership with T&G by helping a new Garden to Table kindergarten get set up.
We headed along to Colwill Kindergarten in Massey, Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) for a working bee. Alongside the toddlers and their kindergarten whānau, we assembled kit-set garden beds, filled them with soil, and planted a variety of vegetable seedlings.
Seeing the toddlers make perfect-sized holes for the seedlings by playing a round-and-round game with their fingers was a real highlight!
This event was auspicious in more ways than one.
Not only was it a chance for us to all come together to unite and celebrate, but it also signified the beginning of an exciting new chapter, as we pilot the Garden to Table programme for early childhood centres (ECEs).
With this pilot (which has been made possible thanks to funding from the Jenkins Foundation), we’re hoping to adapt our food education programme (which has traditionally only been delivered to primary and intermediate schools), and launch into ECEs.
Growing fresh kai is something individuals can engage with, and benefit from, from an early age – and this can span from early childhood, through schooling, and into adult life.
Our dream is that growing, cooking, and sharing sustainable, affordable, and nutritious food becomes part of everyday life. We’re looking forward to this pilot being a way for us to step towards that, and meet the needs of younger Kiwis.
“It’s very fitting that T&G who have been our partners for such an enduring time, are rolling up their sleeves to help us put in the first garden that seeds this new chapter in ECEs. They have supported us whole-heartedly in the primary school space, and we are humbled and stoked to share this new beginning with them”, says Garden to Table CEO Ani Brunet.
Adrienne Sharp (T&G’s Head of Corporate Affairs) adds “The success of the Garden to Table programme shows the value of providing a hands-on learning experience and we’re thrilled to continue partnering with Ani and her team as they enter this exciting new phase for the programme”.
Ngā mihi nui, T&G!