The kai resilience movement in Tāmaki Makaurau is gathering momentum, with compassion for vulnerable people and a shared drive for greater food equity motivating the communities at its heart.
The Community Innovation Team of quiet achievers within Auckland Council are quick to credit others for the green shoots of positive change the region is seeing, in the face of troubling statistics.
Te Tāpui Atawhai Auckland City Mission shared these facts recently:
One in four children in Auckland are food insecure. That means a quarter of our tamariki are getting an unacceptable level of nutrients each day.
For Māori and Pasifika children, the statistics are worse. One in three Māori children and one in two Pasifika children are food insecure.
Making a difference for families experiencing deprivation, Tara Moala leads the City Mission’s Food Security team who distributes over 2000 food parcels every month. But Tara and others know that emergency food parcels and food banks are not enough to meet the growing need long-term.
In response, the agencies are working together on a more sustainable solution where communities are inspired and enabled to share kai grown in their own backyards, on church land, on approved council sites, and even in the ocean, where rangatahi (young people) are being taught how to dive and fish for kaimoana (seafood) to feed their whanau.
Auckland Council’s Climate Plan Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri emphasises the importance of supporting locals to plant food forests and grow vegetables, protecting soil and reducing food-related emissions while creating a resilient, low-carbon food system.
Sunita Kashyap, Manager Community Innovation at Auckland Council explains: “We face a significant inequity challenge that we need to tackle together as community. Growing and sharing kai is a mechanism for people to lead climate and wellbeing action from the ground up, creating a future where communities thrive together – now and for generations to come.
“As a regional team, we work closely with local communities, leaders, and funders to address food inequity and our efforts are towards an increasingly connected, thriving ecosystem for the region,” Sunita says.
Three stand-out examples:
Kai Growing Spaces
Currently there are 104 community gardens across the Auckland isthmus where families can plant and harvest their own vegetables; 44 of the gardens are located on approved council land – parks and reserves. Watch a video about Gardens for Health, a council partner.
A process has been set up by Auckland Council to facilitate approvals for Kai Growing Spaces with guidelines for people to follow. These spaces deliver multiple benefits:
Access to fresh, nutritious food: They enable families and individuals without their own land to grow their own produce, enhancing food security by increasing access to locally grown food.
Waste minimisation: Communities are more likely to understand the impact they have on the food system and help to promote circular economies models such as composting and the re-use of resources.
Foster a sense of community: By bringing together people from diverse backgrounds, they help build networks, enhance community connections, and increase a sense of belonging.
Health benefits: Gardening promotes outdoor physical activity and growing kai has been shown to reduce stress.
Environmental: Kai growing spaces offer significant benefits such as improving air and soil quality, providing habitats for pollinators, increasing biodiversity, and enhancing rainwater drainage.
The Community Innovation team alongside partners, have held ten quarterly Kai Resilience Hui for community partners, council staff, philanthropists and central government colleagues working in the food system to connect and share their innovative work across Auckland.
Kaimoana
At a recent council-led Kai Resilience Hui, Donovan Busby shared the transformative journey of the programme he leads: the Tumoana Dive Programme under the company Te Korowai Ariki Ltd.
Since 2012 this kaupapa has taught groups of rangatahi how to dive and fish for kaimoana (seafood). With the ocean as both classroom and healer, Donovan teaches rangitahi how to dive and fish. He also nurtures their resilience, confidence, and a deep respect for te taiao (the environment).
He explains that through the Tumoana Dive Programme, young people are guided to reconnect with their whakapapa, build their indigenous knowledge and life skills, embrace their potential, and rise as leaders in their communities.
“This programme captures the spirit of mentorship and the beauty of learning through experience. We are teaching our rangatahi to express themselves in a positive way,” he says.
“At a practical level, we’re giving them tools so they can provide kai for their whanau. Rangatahi are gifted a rod and tackle, and the Henderson and Massey Local Boards supply them with wetsuits. They treat their wetsuits like taonga.”
The programme starts with safety. “They are taught how to be lifeguards first in a five-metre-deep pool in Henderson. They develop confidence before they go near the ocean. We mitigate the risks first and it becomes a lot easier.”
Fonua mahu mei Langi
A thriving Grow to Share programme in east, south and west Auckland supports locals to install small garden boxes in their backyards. The inspiration for Fonua mahu mei Langi, this Tongan gardening programme, came from Pacific Vision Aotearoa with support from Me’a’ofa Fungani Methodist Church in Panmure.
Pacific Vision Aotearoa worked with Reverend Falakesi Filiai, sharing knowledge about growing and harvesting a good selection of fruit and vegetables for their families and to share among their community. The programme is being trialled with church communities through a train the trainer model. Learn about Grow to Share via this Youtube video.
This programme and many other initiatives are supported by Auckland Council in partnership with other funders. They are initiatives communities are leading to grow the Auckland region’s kai resilience.
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