Kai Sovereignty
On a beautiful summer day in February 2024, I spent a mauri (lifeforce) and wairua (spirit) enriching morning with Haana at Mataweka Marae in Waipawa, chatting about topics such as water retention landscapes and hua parakore, a kaupapa Māori framework for growing kai.
A founding member of the PCG committee, Haana helped write the original proposal to secure funding from the Ministry for the Environment’s Freshwater Improvement Fund. Haana’s contribution was to incorporate te ao Māori (a Māori worldview) and te reo Māori into the document and kaupapa of the group.
A māmā, former KPMG HR manager and lifelong learner, Haana started teaching a Kai Oranga Food Sovereignty course through Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi in 2019. The course is explored through the principles of hua parakore, which translates literally to ‘hua’ or ‘fruit/produce’ without contamination. According to Haana, this is much broader than no pesticides or herbicides.
“Hua parakore is about exploring how to take our rightful place in the whakapapa from Ranginui and Papatūānuku, as the pōtiki or youngest child of the whānau - not as the master,” says Haana.
“We explore that idea through kai, different gardening methods, the maramataka (Māori lunar calendar), rongoā (Māori medicine), nutrition, soil – all through the lens of mauri, or the lifeforce of kai. None of it is separate, it’s all part of that interconnected whakapapa of things”.
“Understanding when, where and how our food is grown has always been important to us at Wallingford; it is integral to menu composition and essential to storytelling at the table. Learning to grow through a Māori lens has expanded my ‘knowing’ in this regard, adding a spiritual and healing dimension to the way I think about, handle, and prepare food. I’m very grateful to Haana for this. Harvesting beets from the earth an hour before they appear on a dinner menu is simply awesome,” says Chris.
To enquire about the next intake of the Kai Oranga course, check out the website of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.
Written by the PCG's Communications Co-ordinator, Kimberley Bartlett (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Waikato-Tainui)