Te Waka Kai Ora expands Hua Parakore

Te Waka Kai Ora expands Hua Parakore into Pastoral Farming Sector

For immediate release: 07/06/12

A large gathering of whanau and friends at Otukaiao farm in Motatau witnessed the final of the Tai Tokerau wananga series. The hui formed part of a Te Waka Kai Ora wananga series aimed to launch the three Sector Pilot Resources, and to honour the growers in these sectors who have attained the Hua Parakore status and whose products can now wear the tohu (label).

The resources focus around three growing sectors of high significance and potential for Māori to become involved in using Hua Parakore practices and values. The resources focus on Kairaupi (Beekeeping), Ahuwhenua (Pastoral Farming) and Ahumoana (Aquaculture). Hua Parakore, meaning ‘Pure Product’, is a verification and validation system for growing and producing healthy kai, free from all additives and inputs. Growers who can demonstrate their production and tikanga (values and practices) are GE, nano, pesticide and chemical free, and who contribute to wider community involvement and development, can apply to carry the Hua Parakore tohu. Te Waka Kai Ora is the kaitiaki of the tohu, and is established to coordinate and to assist regional groups to encourage Hua Parakore practices in their rohe (regions).

Held on the Otukaiao whenua, the 50 odd whanau and guests packed into the whare to hear an inspiring and informative presentation by Iwi Puihi (Percy) Tipene. His whanaunga and well-known local artist Theresa Reihana also explained how her artwork, which features throughout Te Waka Kai Ora publications, are visual representations of the important ideas and philosophies that lie behind the Hua Parakore kaupapa.

Percy explains that the Otukaiao farm is ‘whenua tuku iho’- land that has been passed on from their ancestors, and that they will in turn never ‘own the land’ but are merely kaitiaki (guardians) over it until it is passed on to the next generation. The whole approach to the whenua is one Percy calls ‘kapata kai’- or a food cupboard. This includes beef farming, maara kai, and rongoa (medicine) harvesting.

Tino Rangatiratanga of their kai is at the front of their minds- “The aim is to have the land providing for all our needs. At the moment we are at about 65%”, explains Matua Percy.

The powerpoint presentation was filled with a wide range of matauranga, including mapping, GIS and a range of graphs identifying the various species, food gathering areas, and sites of significance on the whenua. While many are hesitant to share such information, Percy firmly believes that if we don’t, the urupa (graveyard) will end up being our biggest encyclopaedia of knowledge. “ We need to pass this knowledge on”, affirms Percy.

The Hua Parakore cows are raised on a ‘salad’ of over 25 species, only four of which are deemed ‘pasture species’, the rest of which would be termed ‘weeds’. But Percy believes that “weed is only a word that is planted between your ears. They are only there because the conditions are ideal for them. That is what our tūpuna could do, they could read the land and know what it needed”.

The large whanau that work the whenua proudly received the Hua Parakore tohu to hang on their front fence, and the guests were then rewarded with a Hua Parakore hangi consisting of beef off the whenua, as well as kamokamo , kumara and puha.

ENDS

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