REGENERATIVE LOCAL KAI SYSTEM
COMMUNITIES REDESIGNING THE KAI SYSTEM TO ACHIEVE A LOCAL END-TO-END FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
r
“You cannot separate kai from either community or whenua. To have a system that champions kai is to have one that champions community and champions whenua. To look after the people means to look after the whenua... ”— (Kore Hiakai, Mana to Mana)
Recognising peoples diminishing access to healthy and affordable food during and after COVID-19, Healthy Families Whanganui Rangitīkei Ruapehu sought to understand what people in the community were experiencing and uncover what a community-led redesign of the Kai system could look like in Whanganui.
Drawing inspiration from Healthy Families NZ initiatives from across the motu, Healthy Families Whanganui Rangitīkei Ruapehu centred community voice in the design process, with a clear line of sight towards sustainability, inclusivity and innovation.
Community leaders naturally began to emerge as champions, with a diverse group gathering regularly to begin ideating initiatives as a collective. This led to the formation of Kai Ora: Whanganui Kai Collective - a community-led movement for change, connecting kai initiatives already in motion in Whanganui.
Throughout 2020 and 2021, Healthy Families Whanganui Rangitīkei Ruapehu supported Kai Ora in facilitating community engagement and attracting collaborators from various sectors. Through these opportunities for connection, many lasting relationships that have been formed led to impactful kai initiatives across the rohe throughout 2022 and 2023.
Through wānanga, co-design engagement hui, harvest events and community meals, relationships and connections between community members and organisations working in the kai space have formed and strengthened.
The most thriving example is the monthly community meals hosted by Te Ao Hou marae. Growing in popularity every month, the largest had over 150 community members in attendance.
The increase in neighbourhood trust is generating more local kai initiatives coordinated by community collaborations, and informed by a more cohesive vision for the future of kai in Whanganui.
The strengthening of relationships and connections is shifting people’s mindsets, including feeding an increasing enthusiasm within the community to achieve kai sovereignty. These collective attitudes strengthen each time the community participates in empowering initiatives like implementing community maara and orchards, learning together to grow kūmara, and regularly sharing kai.
Being involved in tactile experiences of kai sovereignty on the ground is increasing a shared belief that the food system can genuinely be transformed, and a regenerative local kai system developed that reflects the tāngata, whenua and awa of Whanganui.
The increasingly interconnected movement for kai sovereignty is resulting in a more impactful and dynamic flow of resources such as surplus food, seedlings, seeds, knowledge and expertise between different kai sovereignty initiatives. Initiatives like the Whanganui Kai Hub and the Learning Environment’s Koha Kai kaupapa are examples of initiatives that emerged within the local kai movement, and that have been partially funded by Whanganui District Council.
Healthy Families Whanganui Rangitīkei Ruapehu is providing consistent stimulus and backbone support to the regenerative local kai system movement through facilitating neighbourhood placemaking, bringing community champions into Kai Systems Innovator roles, enabling local kai kaupapa, engaging local government, telling stories of change, organising learning opportunities, and fostering community connections.
Learning Environment
Kai Ora Whanganui Kai Collective
Te Ao Hou Marae
Te Oranganui