Stories & Pānui
October 2024 Pānui
He kai kei tātou ringaringa.
There is food at the end of our hands.
He kai kei tātou ringa is a well-known whakataukī that signifies resilience, empowerment, and hope.
Happy Labour Day Weekend!
What does food sovereignty mean in the context of Te Tiriti o Waitangi?
To celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori and the release of our Kai Motuhake resource –Kore Hiakai invited Kaea Tibble, co-author of Kai Motuhake, to share some of his insights on food sovereignty in the context of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
August 2024 Pānui
Whāia te mātauranga hei oranga mō koutou.
Seek after wisdom for the sake of your wellbeing.
As we navigate through the deep troughs of winter, amidst the seemingly constant onslaught of government decisions, we recognise the struggle many of you are having as you grapple with ever-increasing need for food assistance. This puts more pressure on your already over-stretched services while coping with significant funding reductions, and on your efforts to collectively and creatively build food secure communities across Aotearoa. Your efforts help foster the hope that together we can reimagine a way through our current reality.
What does Te Tiriti o Waitangi have to do with food?
Through some of the mahi Kore Hiakai does around the motu, we are often asked the following question:
“What does Te Tiriti o Waitangi have to do with food?”
It might be easier to ask; what doesn’t Te Tiriti o Waitangi have to do with food?
welcome to our June pānui
Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa.
Let us keep close together, not wide apart
This whakatauki speaks to the importance of keeping connected, of maintaining relationships and dialogue so that we can keep moving forward together.
Matariki has set below the horizon and we now begin the wait in the cold crispness of the emerging winter for the return of Matariki. A reminder to acknowledge the wisdom of what has been, to celebrate it and mourn what has been lost while we wait with hope to launch our dreams on the star of Pohutukawa at the end of June. The winter planting calendar reminds us that across much of Aotearoa, even in the frost, carrots can be planted in June. You will not see them for many weeks. But plant now, ready for a spring crop. An act of hope that even with the supposed barrenness of the winter garden, possibility and abundance lurks beneath the soil.
welcome to the march pānui
Welcome to our Autumn 2024 Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective pānui.
It is wonderful to be connecting with your all again as together we strive for our vision of A Food Secure Aotearoa for All. The proverb above reminds us that if we each carry our small part we can make amazing things happen. When we work together, through kotahitanga, that we will get to the end goal. Even if we do different things from each other, our common vision and goal holds us together.
welcome to our November pānui
Ki te kotahi te kakaho ka whati, Ki te kapuia e kore e whati.
When a reed stands on its own it can easily break, but a group of reeds together bend in the prevailing wind.
The last month or so has been a journey, as we have changed season into spring and as we move into life with our new government in whatever form it takes. In the changing of seasons it is important to remind ourselves to be gentle; to let go of that which needs to be shed and to welcome in the new growth.
welcome to our september pānui
E koekoe te tuī, e ketekete te kākā, e kūkū te kererū
When all the birds are singing the forest is thriving.
We are now only weeks away from our general election.
It is a privilege to be in a country where we are free to vote without coercion. It is our right and our responsibility as members of our wider community to participate in voting, even when we don’t know who to vote for. This is how our different voices are heard and contribute.
welcome to our august pānui
“Manaaki whenua, manaaki tangata, haere whakamua”.
By caring for the land and the people the future will be prosperous.
As we huddled together across Aotearoa during the crisp Matariki nights, gazing towards the stars and remembering those who have shaped us, the Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger strategic leadership and kaimahi team were taking a few tentative steps into that newness. We give thanks and offer our dreams for the year ahead:
matariki - te tau hau māori
Behold Tupuānuku, of the fertile soil, spread your plenty across the land.
Reveal the bounty of Rongoā, Indeed!
We see and feel heartened by Tupuānuku, one of the nine Matariki stars connected to our kai and our rongoā that are grown in the soil or harvested from the ground. At this time we gently remind ourselves of, and reflect on, the importance of our soil and all the life forces it contains that contribute to our harvests, nurturing and producing our kai atua.
Welcome to our June 2023 Pānui
Ko te pae tawhiti whāia kia tata,
ko te pae tata whakamaua kia tina.
Seek out distant horizons and cherish those you attain.
It has been an incredible privilege to journey with you all during these last four years of the Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective, as we’ve explored our shared purpose, partnerships, and deep relationships to create meaningful systemic change around food security.
The power of local and community initiatives
Heria te taura tangata.
Weave the people.
Within our communities there lies remarkable potential—there is power in locals coming together to make transformative change. These pockets of individuals and local stakeholders have the ability to weave the people in their rohe, cultivating the relationships and spaces necessary to make behavioural and structural change.
Welcome to our May 2023 Pānui
He kai kei āku ringaringa.
There is food at the end of my hands.
Amongst the wonderful diversity found all across Aotearoa there’s a commonality in our shared visions around kai – we all want food at the end of everyone’s hands.
realising food secure communities
He kai kei aku ringaringa.
There is food at the ends of my hands.
In Aotearoa, food prices are soaring, contributing to a cost-of-living crisis, while some of our most productive food producing regions are struggling to provide their staples, following the natural disasters we experienced earlier this year. This is just the latest in what has now been years of crisis response – which some are now calling a poly-crisis. Continuing to focus on fighting the fires is only going to get us so far.
Welcome to our April 2023 Pānui
Heria te taura tāngata.
Weave the people.
Kotahitanga is about togetherness, solidarity, and collective action. It’s the bringing together of all threads in order to weave the best outcomes – something we’ve all given witness to this year, as we stood in solidarity with all we weathered.
response, recovery and realising a food secure aotearoa
Mā whero, mā pango ka oti ai te mahi.
With red and black the work will be complete.
This is a pivotal yet imaginative moment for Aotearoa, as we move from an immediate crisis response in the wake of pandemic and natural disasters towards longer-term recovery – there is the prospect of realising something better.
Welcome to our March 2023 Pānui
Ki te Kotahi te kākaho, ka whati;
ki te kāpuia, e kore e whati
If a reed stands alone, it can be broken;
if it is in a group, it cannot.
So often during a crisis our communities come together, bonded through adversity that gives rise to care and compassion. We have witnessed collective strength during our most challenging times – whatever it is we’re facing, as we’ve stood in solidarity so that we can respond and heal. Together we cannot be broken.
Welcome to our February 2023 Pānui
He hono tangata e kore e motu; kāpā he taura waka e motu
Connections between people cannot be severed whereas those of a canoe-rope can
Welcome to the start of our journey for 2023! It is said invisible threads are often the strongest ties. This certainly bears truths for many of us at the start of this new year as we reconnect to champion food security together.