Traditional Māori gardens tackling food costs and health

A South Auckland couple's community garden to combat rising food prices for locals is also raising awareness of traditional Māori cultivation and sustainability practice.

Liz and Tauraa said they started their Maara Kai garden in Ōtara to support their community.

“We want to feed, teach and empower our local community with our garden.”

The couple offer regular classes to educate participants in food sustainability and often cater for larger group bookings.

Liz and Tauraa say their Māori roots are heavily intertwined in their garden’s practices, with methods, such as using a sundial, which date back hundreds of years in Māori cultivation.

“We’ve found many local Māori residents in Ōkara who are disconnected from their Te Ao Māori, many do not know their whakapapa and are disconnected from their marae, very few speak Te Ao Māori.”

Classes offered teach iwi how to eat well, nourish the body and soul, and prepare food using Te Ao Māori practices.

Maara Kai is just one of many gardens emerging as the price of common foods rises more than 50%.

Te Ao Māori organization Rākau Tautoko is a collective of skilled and creative practitioners that volunteer their time to create opportunities, share experiences, empower, and motivate one another.

Rākau Tautoko work for charitable purposes, which allows the collective to hold strong values and maintain the focus of supporting their communities' needs.

Community practitioner Jo Favell's mahi with Rākau Tautoko is in the administration support for their garden and chicken programmes, and also setting up workshops for mātauranga Māori and kai sovereignty.

She says due to the rising cost of food, the growing demand for fresh vegetables is “out of pocket.”

“The inflation has just made it [fresh produce] unreachable for many households in our community.”

Flavell says there is a growing need for community gardens.

“We are seeing individual households jumping on going we absolutely need to do this.

"And its people who have said I've always wanted to garden but there's been barriers, or I don't have the knowledge.

“It's a really difficult time for our communities.”