Popular social media influencer Byron Austin visited Rotorua recently to explore exciting opportunities for a new food forest in collaboration with Healthy Families Rotorua.
This kaupapa aims to enhance community health and well-being through sustainable food practices.
Byron, who creates content under the pseudonym Byron Grows, previously assisted Kaharoa School in creating a mini food forest. He expressed his enthusiasm for expanding these efforts in Rotorua and acknowledged the pivotal role of Practice & Development lead Pirihira Whata in initiating this conversation.
“This is super compelling because when Piri originally reached out, it was about preventative healthcare. Most of the time, people are interested in growing a food forest because it sounds cool, or they saw some online post. But talking about this in terms of preventative healthcare is key. We are what we eat, and we are what our food eats. If our food is eating poison, that food ends up in us, and that’s not healthcare – that’s keeping us sick,” he says.
Byron emphasised that growing healthy, poison-free food not only nourishes individuals but also promotes ecological well-being.
“We’re both healing the ecosystems and ourselves. As we develop a stronger connection with our environment, we start to appreciate where we live. Engaging with the seasons, soil, and wildlife transforms our lives. We become healthier, spend more time outdoors, and strengthen community ties.”
The vision for this food forest goes beyond immediate benefits; it’s a multi-generational project with long-lasting impacts.
“This isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. These systems will produce food for hundreds of years. We’ll be planting trees that will bear fruit for three to four hundred years. This is just the start of something incredible,” says Byron.
He acknowledged the collaborative effort required to bring this vision to life, stating, “It’s taken a lot of people to coordinate and organise this, but it’s for something so much bigger than any of us. Our grandchildren might benefit from this decades from now. The wise man plants trees that he knows he’ll never sit under.”
Pirihira says Byron’s insights highlight the profound connection between sustainable food practices and community health.
“This kaupapa promises not only to nourish bodies but also to cultivate a deeper appreciation for the environment and each other, setting the stage for a thriving, interconnected future,” she says.
Check out Byron on his YouTube/Instagram handle @byron.grows
