If you ate iceberg lettuce or spinach this Easter weekend, there's a good chance it came from LeaderBrand in Gisborne - and if you had it fresh, it got to you fast.
From harvest to the supermarket, leafy greens like these only have a lifespan of a couple of days before they lose their crunch, so it has to get to you quickly.
If you live in Wellington, but your lettuce comes from Gisborne, the quickest path to your plate is by road.
But when the only road operating out of a major growing region is closed by Cyclone Gabrielle and subsequent slips, those greens can go bad before they even leave the region.
LeaderBrand CEO Richard Burke said storm-resilient infrastructure is needed, but the company and community don't have it.
"We’re a region that plays a significant part in this economy, in this country, particularly with food and food security," he said.
LeaderBrand is currently building a structure with a 10-hectare roof to help keep cyclones out of spinach crops.
But even if the lot survives and makes it to harvest, the outcome isn't much different if the roads are out.
Days after Gabrielle, trucks loaded with crisp salad greens couldn't go anywhere, and perfectly good greens had to go to waste.
"We need at least one pathway out of this region that is really secure... and we’re really hoping that’s one of the big things that comes out of [Cyclone Gabrielle]," Burke said.
"We have to build roads that will last, bridges that don’t have centres in them so they blow out, you know, we’ve got to rethink this."
Southwest of Gisborne is Wairoa, a neighbouring town along SH2 that is regularly cut off completely, further restricting delivery trucks' journeys.
Bridges to the south and east are out, alternatives such as rail are off the table, and shipping containers can only go so far when it comes to shipping perishable food.
During a stop in Wairoa, owner Peter Cunningham of Café 35 was asked a simple and broad question: "What do you need?"
His answer was blunt and with a heartbroken voice.
"Roads. Plain and simple. Need roads. And the sooner, the better."
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