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.

Although the seasons are cooling, many collaborations around the motu have been warming up, and it’s been great to see so many bonding and building as we move towards restoration and hope while using imagination – we are strong when we are united.

community champions

• At the end of this month the University of Canterbury is celebrating 150 years and are hosting a community feast centered around locally grown produce, hāngi and food-focussed conversations. This event on 28 April will gather Ōtautahi's extensive network of community organisations, researchers and passionate individuals to share kai, resources and ideas for growing and building food resilience. Amazing effort to collaborate! If you are in Christchurch and would like to attend, register for your free ticket here (limited tickets so be in quick).

• Great to see Wellington City Council has released Te Anamata ā-Kai o Tō Tātou Tāone, Our City’s Food Future – an action plan for a sustainable, equitable, healthy, and resilient food system in Pōneke. Something for us all to consider. Download your copy to read here.

• Big thumbs up to Te Aro Eats – uniting kai communities by bringing collaboration and interactive dining experiences at the CubaDupa festival in Te Whanganui-a-Tara recently, to show what is possible when we mahi together. Thank you to the volunteers and staff at Seeds to Feeds, Everybody Eats, BGI, The Free Store and with the support of Kaibosh, Kaicycle, Neighbours Aotearoa and Wellington City Council for your awesome collective efforts.

• ‘Proposed Framework for Debt To Government’. A huge mihi to Te Tāpui Atawhai Auckland City Mission, Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga and FinCap for their incredible intellectual insights and collaborating on this submission piece with Kore Hiakai. We collectively prepared this submission because debt to government, particularly to MSD, affects many low-income families experiencing poverty-related hunger. The weight of this debt falls heavily on women, Māori, Pasifika, and children – the groups most likely to experience food insecurity in Aotearoa. Sensational collective response. Read here.

• We’d like to tautoko the Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance (AFRA) for their series of regional hui around the motu and ongoing inspiration to other like-minded organisations in the food rescue space this past month. Great to see AFRA members gathering for robust kōrero to learn, motivate, and to share their successes, trials and tribulations. Kapai AFRA! Nice work. We’re sure there’s great anticipation for the National Hui, to be held in Christchurch this September.

• In the wake of the weather events on the East Coast, this collaboration came together to help link up goods, equipment and people power where needed. Amazing mahi supporting food organisations but also every other kind of practical help too – amazing seeing this rohe unite!

• Giving lots of encouragement to the Pacific Pay Gap Campaign and the call for signatory support for their open letter to government. “Now is the time for the Government to level the playing field and pass a law requiring all employers to be transparent and take action on their gender, Māori, Pacific, and other ethnic pay gaps.” Awesome advocacy and call for action.

• We give sincere acknowledgement and gratitude to the team of associated Nutritionists from the University of Otago – Department of Human Nutrition, and to Kairos Connecion Trust (Kairos foodbank) and other community food distributors, for their collective wisdom and insights to help conceptualize, create and test the ‘Whānau Cookbook’. This resource offers guidance for self-service and more choice models including social supermarkets. All recipes have been carefully crafted to align with Nutritional Guidelines as per the Aotearoa Food Parcel Measure, providing 4 whānau with 3 meals per day for a total of 4 days, at a minimum of 80% of the recommended nutritional intake. Download your copy here.

blog - response, recovery and realising a food secure aotearoa

In case you missed our March systems change blog piece – “This is a pivotal yet imaginative moment for Aotearoa, as we move from an immediate crisis response in the wake of the pandemic and natural disasters towards longer term recovery – there is the prospect of realising something better...”. Check it out here.

Look out for the next exciting April blog, landing in your inbox later this month!

think links

this month (international): secret supply lines - fruit & veg under the radar

This is an interesting UK podcast about the role that wholesale produce markets play in transforming towards local food systems. “Sheila Dillon delves into the world of fresh produce wholesale markets – an unseen part of the food system which has provided a steady supply of fruit and veg to greengrocers, corner shops and restaurants during the recent shortages in supermarkets. Could they be game changers in building a better, more secure food system in Britain?” Have a listen here.

dig deeper

This month: Haratua (April to May) – a time to prepare for winter

There are still plenty of jobs to be done and much to be enjoyed as we prepare for the cooler winter months – especially thinking about next season planting and working out which crops you may want to grow and harvest. Check out these handy April tips for gardening by the Maramataka.

sustainable development goals

sdg #2 zero hunger

This month: Para Kore and their collective action for zero carbon and waste within Aotearoa

Acknowledging the amazing sustainable education mahi at Para Kore and their collective action for zero carbon and waste within Aotearoa that honours Mana Māori motuhake and regenerative practices. During May they will host their first ever Hui-ā-Rohe across Aotearoa in Kataia, Kirikiriroa, Bridge Pa and Te Awakairangi. “The purpose of He Atua, He Tangata is about reconnecting with atua Māori… Together, we aim to explore our responsibilities as descendants of Rangi and Papa, and how our actions and inaction impacts our environment, our pepeha and our whakapapa.” Click here for the registration and info link .

2023 has made us realise we all need hope and strength – hope that we will eventually build our nation better; and strength to continue holding on to one another while we do. When we weave with people, we can realise a food secure Aotearoa.

Nga mihi.

Kore Hiakai Kaimahi

Heria te taura tāngata.

Weave the people.