Weaving together strands of the organic world
When I speak with Marion Thomson (via Zoom), she is in lockdown at her sister’s place in Titirangi, surrounded by a beautiful garden and regenerating native bush. In Covid exile from her home in Hawke’s Bay, following a trip to Australia to visit family that morphed into months and a stint in MIQ, she’s philosophical about the circumstance but itching to get on with things.
She’s recently been elected as the co-chair of OrganicFarmNZ (OFNZ), the small-scale domestic growers’ certification scheme, after more than two decades of involvement with the organisation, and says she’s attended more meetings, more conferences, and “had more engagement, in some ways” than before, through online platforms.
“Getting busy growers to a central place for an AGM is expensive and hard to time, so Zoom has been wonderful in that respect.”
Early pathways
Marion grew up on a classic quarter-acre section in Khandallah, Wellington. Her father’s income supported the family of five kids, and her parents’ values were embedded in good food and health. The whole backyard was in
