Rochelle Francis

Rochelle Francis is passionate about the transformative potential of local food systems.

This led her to devote time inside and outside of her career to take practical action and advocate for systemic changes to ensure everyone in our community can access good food – food which is affordable, nourishing, locally sourced, culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable.

Growing up in the Bay of Plenty, Rochelle enjoyed food that she and her whānau gathered from the ocean, streams and bush, and the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables that grew in the local area. Living in Invercargill now, she is on a lifelong learning journey to eat locally sourced and whole foods, and to grow kai, soil health and biodiversity in the place where she lives ... all while feeding hungry teenagers with the goodness they need to thrive.

These activities provide both a means of escape and expression of commitment to the kaupapa that are now the focus of her day to day work as Climate Change Lead at Southland District Council – namely, meaningfully responding to the dual climate change and biodiversity crises, and caring for one another and the generations to come.

Rochelle will be speaking at the Future Food Systems session during the Food Resilience Day at Wao Summit 2024.