Fruitful pursuits | Auckland News | Local News in Auckland

Lemonade, lemon curd, lemon cake, lemon-ed out? Hayley Hannan finds a new use for overbearing trees.

Rob Crawford heaves two wicker baskets of citrus on to the table in front of me. He's driven from Silverdale into downtown Auckland to swap his backyard fruit for gelato in a new barter scheme.

Gelato artisan Gianpaolo Graziolo is encouraging customers at Giapo Gelato, his Queen St parlour, to bring in organic fruit fresh from the tree. The process is simple: sign an online agreement stating your fruit is organic, then bring in your pickings. The produce is valued at market rates and suppliers can walk out the door with gelato or Giapo dollars.

Mr Crawford has so far traded 15kg of grapefruit and  lemons for $45 of gelato.

"We had fruit trees that were brimming full and dripping fruit off like anything, and I thought this was a great initiative put on by them to use fruit that would be otherwise wasted," he says.

Mr Graziolo says the new scheme creates an "organic system".

"The idea came from the fact that I think the world should be pushing towards a barter system and using less and less the main system. I'm against money and the bank. It was the best thing I could think of and it apparently works."

He says 25 people have taken advantage of the idea so far, while another 60 have expressed interest - when their fruit   ripens.

The scheme has spread through social media.  Mr Graziolo has featured widely in mainstream media for his marketing schemes on Twitter, Facebook and on his blog.

When The Aucklander visited the store last week, we were immersed in a real-time multimedia experience.

Mr Crawford tweets Mr Graziolo to say he's in the store, while a camera streams our every move live to YouTube. As we leave, another Twitter friend reads online that Mr Graziolo is in the store and pops in to say hello. They are taking photos on their iPhones as we leave.

Bartering isn't a new idea in Auckland. Bartercard has been in stores for almost 20 years, while many informal barter systems operate across the city.

Patsy Blackstock, owner of Nourish Cafe on Waiheke, says bartering is commonplace on the island. "People will exchange goods and services, and produce is exchanged for produce."

She says systems like bartering and complementary currencies are a good way of keeping money within the local economy while supporting local business. Ms Blackstock wants to set up a Waiheke complementary currency similar to the one in  Wanganui, a "local economic exchange to create local economic resilience".

But for Mr Crawford, it's simple. He'd rather have gelato than rotting fruit. "The satisfaction is from knowing that the fruit has gone to a good home."

Money or the bag?

Communities around the country have shunned money to create alternative forms of trade. In Lyttelton near Christchurch, residents have devised a Timebank system to trade services based on the amount of time they take. For example, two hours of chicken coop construction can be traded for two hours of sewing. Participating towns commonly set up complementary currencies, a form of DIY cash. Wairarapa has enjoyed its own currency for two years, allowing the currency to remain in  its community.