North Otago teacher turned farmer Jo Hay hates to see children hungry, so when an opportunity came to join the board of the farmer led food donation initiative Meat the Need in April last year, she jumped at the chance.

Hay, who farms near Herbert with her husband Ross and three children, had already been trying to make a difference herself in her local community before the initiative started.

“I come from a really strong service background of doing for others and giving people a hand up.

“As a teacher, I struggled seeing kids come to school hungry, so I had got a breakfast club going.”

After noticing a family with a near-empty shopping cart during lockdown in 2020, she organised for a donation of mince and sausages to go the local school for the principal to distribute.

“I know we are in business, and have to make money, but we produce this amazing protein, and people in our own country are going hungry.

“It just didn’t sit well with me.”

When Meat the Need began that year, it was just the vehicle Hay had been looking for to affect change.

The Hays immediately started donating meat from their farm to the cause.

“I became a bit of a cheerleader for them, and when the opportunity arose to join the board, I thought Yes, because this totally sits with my ‘Why’.

“And the rest is history.”

Meat the Need provides a platform for farmers to donate premium mince and milk to those at the frontlines of food insecurity – food banks and community organisations.

Hay says that if farmers can donate, they should.

“The need is incredible.

“Farmers think things are tough at the moment, and it is.

“But we can grow our own food, we can entertain ourselves at home pretty cheaply.

“We are not stuck in a small house with hungry kids trying to entertain them to take their mind off it.

“Things are a whole lot worse for a whole lot of other people, and we need to remember that.”

“As farmers, we don’t ever have to think twice about putting food on the table for our families, and there are a lot of families who go without.”

Hay has also started a local Food Fairies, supplying meals for families with newborn babies.

Helping to solve food insecurity isn’t the only way Hay gives back to the community.

She also sits on the steering committee for North Otago Sustainable Land Management.

“Catchment stuff totally spins my wheels.

“Farmers do amazing stuff, and we just need to support it, and support farmers with learning.

“The more you know, the more you learn.”

Hay is also a director for the North Otago Irrigation Company, a role that saw her receive the Institute of Directors Emerging Director Award last year.

“The North Otago Irrigation Company is a really interesting and exciting space to be involved in.

“You only have to be farmer son the east Coast of the South Island to understand that when it gets dry, it gets dry.

“Water has completely changed our community.”

Hay said the biggest driver for her is biding strong communities – and not just rural ones.

“Every rural community is intrinsically linked to urban communities.

“We want our communities to be places where people want to live, want to work and want to play.

“That’s what gets me excited.”

By Claire Inkson