About Us

The Team

Meet Sophia and Ali-- local wāhine toa who are determined to support local community members in Ōamaru who want to grow their own food and eat healther kai.

Sophia was the manager at Waitaki Community Gardens for 5 years and has a Permaculture Design Certificate and Master of Public Health. Inspired by her experiences teaching children in schools to grow food and the social enterprise movement, she believes that edible gardening is the fountain of good health.

Ali is a qualified teacher, farmer and woman of many talents.

The Dream

Sophia and Ali founded Hapori o te Ao as a way to pay it forward and empower others to grow healthy, fresh produce at home. The business idea was born while they gardened together at the community gardens one day after the first lockdown, yarning about the therapeutic effects of gardening.

In a literature review of medical journals performed by Dr. Daphne Miller in 2013, a total of eighty-one studies showed that gardening was linked to improved health outcomes. Statistical analyses indicated that benefits associated with urban and edible gardening included lower rates of diabetes, arthritis, dementia, anxiety and depression, as well as lower alcohol consumption, higher vegetable intake, more hours of weekly exercise and greater self-rated health.