When chef Ant North’s Greytown-based business, Ant North Catering, shuddered to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was easy for him to transfer his time and energy to cooking for
his family at home. But the pandemic made him think. “I was cooking for my family, but I could easily have cooked for the whole street! Lockdown Level 4 me realise just how stressful food can be – when you don’t have enough of it or when you are too
stressed to know what to do with it when you have it”.
In response, Ant developed The Pantry Challenge – a series of 14 cooking demo videos on YouTube and Facebook creating quick, easy and nutritious meals using common
food parcel ingredients, accompanied by recipe cards to go into Foodbank food parcels in Wairarapa.
The Pantry Challenge has been supported by Wairarapa-based research firm Planalytics NZ Ltd. The company’s Director,
Toni Kennerley, says backing the project was an easy decision. “At Planalytics we’ve been aware of the local impact of food insecurity for some time, having undertaken research on the
topic for Connecting Communities Wairarapa back in 2019. It made total sense to the Planalytics’ team to get behind Ant
to help develop and launch The Pantry Challenge”.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, food insecurity exists when people do not have
adequate physical, social or economic access to food. It can adversely affect health outcomes and undermine family and
community networks. Planalytics’ 2019 research indicated that even food-producing regions such as Wairarapa experience
food insecurity.
Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective, which is working to build collaborative solutions to food inequality in Aotearoa, considers the COVID-19 pandemic has
escalated the challenges related to food insecurity dramatically. This was the case in Wairarapa. At the height of
lockdown Level 4, Masterton Foodbank experienced a ten-fold increase in demand for food parcels. But, like many
foodbanks across Aotearoa, this demand had to be met with fewer volunteers as a result of government restrictions.
As well as Planalytics, support for The Pantry Challenge has been forthcoming from local agencies such as Featherston
(South Wairarapa) Foodbank, community-led development partnerships Ka Pai Carterton and Fab Feathy, and local printing
firm Lamb-Peters.
With the filming of the video series now complete, Ant North is now keen for the community to spread the word. “We’d love the community to try the recipes, share the videos, and share their ideas for quick and nutritious meals on
social media." The recipe cards will start to appear in foodbank parcels just before Christmas. They include easy-to-follow
instructions and a QR code, which enables people to click through to the video online."Additional resources:Waste Not, Want Not: Food Insecurity in Wairarapa, April 2019Hand to Mouth media campaign with Wairarapa Midweek, 2019-2020About Planalytics:
Planalytics provide research, policy, engagement and monitoring services to a range of local and national clients. In conjunction
with Connecting Communities Wairarapa, Planalytics completed research into food insecurity in Wairarapa in 2019 and contributed to the ‘Hand to Mouth’ series on the same topic, as published in the Wairarapa Times-Age Midweek over February and March 2020. Planalytics is
also active in public housing research and development strategy, and best practice in local government.