Te Pae Christchurch Centre to supply 'soil food' for community association

Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre in New Zealand has launched a partnership with the local Canterbury Community Garden Association to supply the ‘soil food’ generated by its food dehydrator to the organisation. Launched at the CCGA’s recent AGM, the partnership is a key step in the Centre’s move towards more sustainable operations. Te Pae Christchurch general manager Ross Steele said the Centre was delighted to partner with the CCGA, the Just Dirt Trust and City Care in the distribution of the soil food. “With operations now well underway, it’s exciting to be able to recognise an initiative that we have been working towards since pre-opening,” said Steele. “The partnership also aligns well with our parent company ASM Global’s corporate social responsibility programme ASM Global Acts, particularly the key programme areas of protecting the environment and strengthening our communities,” he added. Rachel Vogan, capacity builder at the CCGA said: “Creating connections, reusing of waste products to make compost is huge for our organisation. Currently, the CCGA is actively engaged with 52 community gardens in the region. This type of relationship is what community gardening is all about, sharing knowledge, and turning waste into something nutritious to feed our soils, it’s a win win. “I love that it’s recycled from a waste product that may have ended up in landfill.” The soil food dehydrator used at Te Pae Christchurch is provided by Sustainably. It has the capacity to process 200 kilograms of food waste a day and works by heating the Centre’s excess food (food that is unsuitable to be donated to Foodbank Canterbury) to a set temperature over nine hours, reducing the food to a soil-like consistency which is rich in nutrients.