Welcome to our Mid-November 2021 Pānui
Me mahitahi tātou mo te oranga o te katoa
When we work together united in a kaupapa everyone’s wellbeing will be uplifted
In a time when things are constantly changing, and the relentlessness of the COVID kai space is not abating, we are all continuing to adapt and rethink. It can be exhausting. While there can be a danger with compartmentalizing, pushing everything into boxes and fighting for territory, within it all there is also an invitation to see our cohesive nature in this food systems space - to find ways to connect, with each other, and across all the aspects of wellbeing.
Kai is wellbeing; budgeting is wellbeing; health care is wellbeing; housing is wellbeing; safety is wellbeing; whānau are our wellbeing. When we do any one of those things, we connect to all the others - they do not exist in isolation. They are interconnected, just as humanity is.
In the multiplicity of all that you do to care for people, and yourselves at this time, may we do that together, in solidarity, and for the wellbeing of all.
UPDATE - ‘Traffic Light System’: The COVID Protection Framework
The main tools of the government’s new ‘Traffic Light System’ COVID-19 Protection Framework are vaccinations and vaccination certificates. Once 90% of those eligible in Aotearoa are fully vaccinated, the government will introduce this new framework - a system that offers us a way to operate whether we are using vaccination certificates or not. Many community kai organisations do not intend to require vaccination certificates for whānau coming in for kai. This means community food distributors need to have appropriate Health & Safety procedures in place (including risk assessments). We have prepared new community food distributor guidelines for this system. Please read and continue to be safe.
A Standard Food Parcel Measure for Aotearoa
Just Kai? Webinar #4: A standard Food Parcel measure for Aotearoa
TOMORROW, Wednesday, 17 November, 1 to 2pm.
This webinar is an introduction to the Aotearoa Standard Food Parcel Measure (ASFPM). Launched in July 2021, the ASFPM offers a standardised way to quantity Food Parcels being distributed in our communities. It is proposed as a sector measuring tool which offers a standard ‘unit’ to quantify the number of [standard] Food Parcels distributed by Foodbanks and community food distributors. This measure includes a nutritional frame.
We will outline the details of this measure, gain insight from a pilot organisation who has the ASFPM tool in use, and discuss the active partnerships of local and national food rescue agencies.
Champion Blog - Christchurch City Mission pilots ASFPM
Since the worldwide COVID pandemic began during 2020, continuing its impact throughout 2021, it was evident from the beginning Aotearoa did not have a consistent way of counting the rising number of Food Parcels being distributed (or a standardised practice within the sector to quantify nutritional adequacy).
While we have seen a steadily growing indiscriminate population experience food poverty as a pandemic consequence, which has exasperated the need for longer-term sustainable solutions to address the underlining root causes, up until recently there has been no consistent way to measure the volume of food required to temporarily address the mounting level of food insecurity we have witnessed… Read more here.
He Tangata, He Tangata, He Tangata
Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective are excited to be expanding and we are about to advertise three exciting new opportunities as part of our team:
Kaihohonga Hapori Kai Whānui – Community Food Networker
Kaiawhina – team administrator
Kairangahau – Policy Analyst on the Food Security Measures project.
Each of these positions are fixed term contracts (tied to our funding streams) and are wonderful opportunities to continue our mahi of being ‘A Food Secure Aotearoa’.
Check out our website or keep an eye on our facebook page for more details, or register your interest with our Pou Ārahi, Tric – korehiakai@nzccss.org.nz
Kore Hiakai end of Year Report
June 2019 - June 2021
In our first reporting year Kore Hiakai went from a series of engagement hui, a clear kaupapa, a partnership with MSD, and a pathway forward to supporting our countrywide response to food insecurity – all in the midst of a global pandemic. Beginning with community food organisation COVID-19 guidelines and regular surveys, Kore Hiakai reached further and further into the community food space gaining insight and ensuring that whānau could access food in the most mana enhancing way (despite the pandemic) and engaged in creative cross-sector conversations advocating for an accessible food supply for all in Aotearoa… Read more here.
As we make our way towards the end of this challenging year, we are reminded we are still each other’s harvest; we are still each other’s business; we remain each other’s bond.
We know this time of year and the lead into Christmas creates extra stresses - for the whānau we support and the agencies we give service from. We came into lockdowns with short-term solutions, and we have moved beyond the short-term but have not changed our tools for responding – this is not sustainable.
Although we have been using a crisis response mode for something that is a long-term chronic problem, we cannot be separated in interest or divided in purpose if we are to envision a food secure Aotearoa for all.
Unity through the challenges Aotearoa. You are appreciated.
Ngā mihi maioha.
The Kore Hiakai Team.