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.

Coming to the end of this first quarter of the year, we have again given witness to our connections during difficulty. As weather anomalies continued to take its ravishing toll in the north and down the east coast, with a national state of emergency being declared over Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay region and the Tararua district, we drew closer – despite many being thrust into forced isolation, out of our sights but not our minds or hearts.

 After major food and crop losses forewarning that the cost of produce is set to increase following these extreme weather events, we now also have concerns for other aspects of our economy – and yet our community ties remain strong, with many around the motu reaching out in support.

Thank you for all you do – together we will find our way through. Throughout this pānui there are beacons of hope and inspiration to help guide as we do this journey together, as one.

community champions

• Grow on Katikati “Let Food be thy Medicine and Let Medicine be thy Food.” We really like seeing the growing momentum of this community-led regenerative food cycle project in Karikari, Bay of Plenty, leading their communities response to food security solutions. Keep on keeping on – we see you! Learn more here.

• Dr Jessica Hutchings, NZ Environmental Hero of the Year 2023 semi-finalists Te Toa Taiao o te tau. Big tautoko and congratulations to Dr Jessica Hutchings, Te Waka Kai Ora Project, Hua Parakore champion, kaupapa Māori research leader, committed to empowering others through knowledge sharing, research and community practice, for being named a finalist amongst the 22 people changing Aotearoa. Amazing ongoing effort and recognition of outstanding contribution for a better Aotearoa. Nga mihi.

• Healthy families Invercargill - Te Mara project. Awesome to see Healthy Families Invercargill working closely with Aurora College on an exciting prototype -Te Maara o te Mūranga a Rangi me te Hapori. They are going all in, with a community garden, māra kai and food forest that will span across two rugby fields at the school. WOW! Te Māra will incorporate mātauranga Māori, creating a space where Māori traditional practices are learned and passed on, provide nutritious kai to students and the wider community, while also supporting pathways to careers in horticulture and environmental science. Ka pai! We look forward to following along as they journey.

• Central Hawkes Bay Food Baskets. Kore Hiakai kaimahi visited the CHB Food Basket this summer to connect with their manager Mel King. Mel recognised there were no food rescue operations in their rohe, Waipawa, and so started one up. Using the ‘AFRA Food Rescue Start Up Guide’ created by Kaibosh and Just Zilch, they have created a safe environment where people feel welcomed and connected to each other. These foundations have opened opportunities for more collaboration and opportunities to come (also, thank you to AFRA, Kaibosh and Just Zilch for having a hand with guiding set up too!).

• Community Focus Trust Christchurch began their social enterprise initiative – The Goodness Market in January 2023. This initiative aims to empower communities, and promote healthy eating, while making connections and working with the local community so that the benefits go towards building a sustainable future. They do this by selling a range of subsidised kai crates to suit different needs. There is the Goodness Kai crate, Goodness Household pack, Goodness Produce box and their Goodness Garden Kit. Each crate comes with their Cash in the Kitchen cookbook to make cooking healthy kai easier. What’s unique about this model is that it’s a paid co-op model which also offers pantry staples and household hygiene products alongside fresh produce.

• Tevita Faka’osi, and his organisation Kainga Pasifika Services, have been at the forefront of supporting the local Pacific community of Hastings and for a number of years has been distributing food, offering financial literacy courses and providing social services to the area. Recent weather atrocities has seen Tevita and his team reach out to the wider community to provide a safe place for the many RSE workers who have been badly affected by flooding. With a large group of volunteers they have been able to distribute food, clothing and a safe and dry place for those that have needed it. Thank you Tevita, to you and all those who reached out with you in compassion when others needed it. We appreciate all you continue to do in your community.

• Super Grans Tairāwhiti. Tairāwhiti has been hit with some big challenges in the last four weeks. Supergrans, alongside other community food groups, has been there to help respond to the needs of whānau. In the midst of your own flood experiences we mihi to Linda, the supergrans team and all their volunteers.

• Mind the Gap NZ are calling on government to introduce new pay gap reporting legislation, that will require businesses with over 100 staff to report on their gender and ethnic pay gaps. Check out this Newsroom NZ  piece by Mind the Gap NZ co-founder, Jo Cribb. Within an Aotearoa context, bringing liveable incomes to Māori and Pasifika women is one way to help create a food-secure Aotearoa. Great work and advocacy!

think links

this month: lifting the weight - fairer futures MSD debt report

Released last month 27 February 2023, “The Fairer Future Collaboration has launched a new report on people’s experiences of owing debt to MSD. The report shows how government can make a small, effective change that would make a huge difference to the lives of many whānau by wiping debt to MSD.” Kore Hiakai have been calling for this kind of action from government and continue to participate in the work of Fairer Future as we work together in this space.

social supermarket practice insights

We have been in conversations with those around the motu who are engaging in More Choice and Social Supermarkets models in order to share their insights on supporting whānau requiring community kai assistance.

From the initial Wellington City Mission insights we released late last year, Kore Hiakai recently caught up with two others for their practice wisdom.  Tēnā kōrua Te Hiku Pātaka and The Salvation Army Whangarei for generously sharing. You can view all three reports in our resources section here.

afpm data – march 2023

During February 6,448 people were fed from 1,612 food parcels totalling 19,344 meals provided for – supplied from 3 organisations.

In the year to date (July 2022 to January 2023) 194,924 people have been fed from 48,731 food parcels totalling 584,772 meals supplied from 4 organisations.

If you would like to be part of our food parcel measure (AFPM) data gathering, analysis and insights to help us monitor the number of people being given food assistance through community food organisations please get in touch with Tammie tammie.korehiakai@nzccss.org.nz or check out our dashboard here.

msd community support funding

“Many community groups and providers are still busy in response activity in relation to the floods and cyclone. We know many of you are providing this support without an easily accessible funding source and that you may not have time to connect with or realise what funding MSD has available. If you are running short of resource, we encourage you to look at applying for the funds in the Community Support Package most relevant to you.” Apply or find out more here.

dig deeper

This month: Poutūterangi

Poutūterangi is a lunar phase, usually around March, marked by the rising of the star some call the same name. It is also the sixth phase of summer, Matiti Rautapata, when the seed pods burst and the seeds fall (tapata) onto the dry leaf beds below. Learn more here. With Poutūterangi shining bright in the sky this month, this is an indication it is a time of harvest.

“Carry on harvesting beans, chillies, capsicum, celery, courgettes, cucumber, leeks, lettuce, peas, potatoes, pumpkin, tomatoes, eggplants and sweetcorn. Jerusalem artichokes will be ready to be dug up and roasted through autumn.” Check out more March gardening tips here.

sustainable development goals

sdg #2 zero hunger

This month: Stuff journalist Brianna Mcilraith published a series of interesting articles worth a perusal -

• What’s going on with the price of broccoli? This article discusses the impacts of recent weather anomolies on our food supply;

• Cheat Sheet: What is a national food plan, and how would it help food security? This articles discusses the rise and shortage of food supplies and understanding what is a national food plan;

• By the numbers: who is eating all of our food if we make enough to feed 40 million? This article raised some interesting questions about our food systems with a call for a national food security plan for Aotearoa.

With all we’ve weathered together this 2023, we are reminded at how we stand together in and on this land, of our responsibilities towards the whenua and the planet as a whole, and rebuilding towards food security for all.  It has been incredible watching the generosity of our people, and the amazing efforts to recover and restore. Kia kaha. Together we can make a difference. Nga mihi.

Kore Hiakai Kaimahi

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.