In South Auckland, Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae is turning waste into food. What began as a place for Māori to regroup in an urban setting has now opened its doors to the wider community, guided by the spirit of Tupu-ā-nuku and Matariki.
“It’s the whānau connection and it’s about growing our kai, learning the whakapapa of our kai, remembering those under pohutukawa, the legacy of those who left our māra kai to continue for our tamariki mokopuna ngā uri whakatipu,” said Kaiwhakahaere Valerie Hotene.
“It was established for urban Māori that were disconnected from home, but the marae has evolved into that whakatauki or this kōrero that Nanny Mere has for us, ahakoa ko wai ahakoa nō hea ko tēnei tō koutou marae, this is a marae for everyone.”
The Māngere-based marae is where you’ll meet people like Valerie Kaitua Hotene, who has been working in the greenhouse with the plants since she was 13 and is now 18, or Dan Kelly, who travels from Sunnyvale with their 2-year-old, Rangiwhakaahu, to plant vegetables in the garden.
“There’s a majority of us are Māori, but there is a huge diversity of whānau that engage no te moana, nui a kiwa hainamana, na whānau katoa, they come from everywhere,” Hotene told Te Ao Māori News.
Produce isn’t the only food waste initiative the marae produces. It also hands out fish heads and bodies to the community, which would’ve been wasted, but is now being cherished by many others.
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