Kamo Kamo, Sockburn, Spring 2005

Half a dozen kamo kamo i've grown from seeded given to me by Mataroa Frew, committee member of Tahuri Whenua. They don't seem to be common around Canterbury gardens with some suggestion we are too far south. They're growing very well so far, and with a long hot summer predicted, I'm hopeful of a good first crop.

On the right are huakaroro, grown from tubers given by Uncles Jim and Pita of the Tahuri Whenua kaumatua group. These are my favourite although I still have tutaekuri in the shed, and some wild sown stuff that is actually cluttering up the celery. Scarlet runner beans grown from self sown seed can just be seen flowering in the background.
Kia ora koutou!!

Te Ohu Whenua II, Massey University, September 8-9th, 2005

The following summaries are published in the second Tahuri Whenua newsletter

The second Te Ohu Whenua Conference was held recently at Massey University, following on from the inaugural conference in 2004. Balance Nutrients were again the Platinum sponsors, with HortResearch, the National Research Centre for Growth and Development, and Agricultural ITO, also contributing.

Highlights included a mini-workshop on sheep genetics by Hugh Blair. Hugh walked attendees through some of the modern concepts of breeding sheep (certainly a lot harder than even ol’ Cecil, the ram off Footrot Flats, made out!). Of course, the question was asked what effects these new and exciting techniques could have on issues close to Maori, such as wairua. Hugh neatly sidestepped the controversy by explaining he was a scientist, and the debate was a wider one of ethics in which the entire community should engage. Well, Hugh did ‘step out’ for, I think, the Manawatu rugby union back in the day, but we can be sure gene techniques – not all of these technologies involve ‘engineering’ - will not disappear, and they will certainly offer Maori farmers and growers greater options in the future.

Nick Roskruge spoke on ‘Nga Maara kai ki te Ao Hurihuri’, ‘Garden Foods of the Future’. Trends in fruit and vegetable consumption point to more emphasis on convenience and locally-sourced produce. Quality is increasingly important, particularly in such attributes as taste, smell and eating sensations. Discerning consumers are also willing to pay more for foods that are produced in a sustainable manner. The food industry admits that the consumer is ‘King’, although kings that are increasingly busy and ‘fussy’, demanding better taste, more health benefits, and convenience.

These demands will require growers to invest in training and education (for themselves and their workers), and in new technologies, especially in the areas of crop health, harvest and grading activities and crop prediction modelling. Maori continually hark back to the wisdom and courage of our tupuna. Let us acknowledge that they were quick to adopt innovations in growing and marketing produce from their lands.

Nick communicated two key objectives for Maori in horticulture. The first is the need to apply more than one discipline to our growing. Horticulture is a rapidly advancing industry, and the skills needed to be successful are various and demanding. The second objective is to ‘take ownership’ of our lands produce, ‘from paddock to plate’.

This theme was repeated by Peter Ensor, Executive Officer of the Approved Supplier Programme. The Programme originated as a pro-active move by New Zealand growers to address consumer concerns relating to food safety, the environment and quality assurance issues. Growers also sought an efficient, cost effective management and production system that removed the need for multiple auditors. They wanted ‘just the one auditor walking through the farm gate’.

Vegfed launched the Approved Supplier Programme in 1999, and were joined by the NZ Fruitgrowers Federation in 2000. A successful pilot in 2003 saw flower growers also seeking accreditation and adopting the Approved Supplier Programme as the standard for their industry. Details are available on: www.approvedsupplier.co.nz/

Last, but by no means least, Joe McLeod spoke of ‘Our Maori Cultural Culinary Cuisine’. Joe is a well-travelled chef who has ‘come on home’ to promote, develop and secure Maori cuisine for the the future. Joe contributes to a website:
www.genuinemaoricuisine.com/

Copies of the Conference Proceedings are available from: Centre for Professional Development and Conferences; Mail Code PN415; Massey University; Private Bag 11-222; Palmerston North, NZ.

Te Ohu Whenua

Another excellent Te Ohu Whenua conference at Massey. Many thanks to organisers, especially Nick Roskruge. Before I cut and paste a few summaries of what i thought were the key presentations, I'll post a pic of ears of Maori corn, the old varieties that came with Pakeha and have been cultivated for several generations among some whanau.

Emergent Maori Horticulture and Sustainable Development: A 'System of Provision' Analysis

Here's an abstract of a paper I'm presenting at the upcoming Maori and Indigenous Doctoral Conference, Onuku (27th-29th October).

The return of Maori land, the return of Maori to their land, and the return of Maori land to supplying a market economy, all occur in a context of innovations that are relevant to the sustainable development of this land. Sustainable development is fundamentally different from earlier forms of development in that mitigates environmental degradation and contributes to ecological resilience. This discourse is also cognisant of a sociological resilience that has expanded to incorporate aspects of cultural 'functioning'. Innovations will struggle against the forces of conservatism that interpret the continuation of traditional practices as integral to the 'proper' functioning of a culture.

But Maori have never excluded innovation from Post-contact strategic and tactical actions in promoting individual or group resilience. This practice has continued an accelerated with contemporary development from a realisation that sustainable development requires the successful adoption of innovative ideas, objects and activities. This can be described as contributing to Maori eco-cultural resilience, defined as Maori-specific development that links the management of ecosystems and social systems in ways that are specific to, and valued by, Maori. These systems incorporate actors that traverse networks that are global in extent. Sustainable Maori resource use is, therefore, reliant on the adoption of non-Maori innovations.

However, modern innovation involves the transfer of information and resources for political-economic ends that threaten the autonomy of participant eco-cultural institutions. Where these processes interpret 'culture' as merely an instrumental means to promote innovation, or as a component that enables product differentiation and added value, then that culture is threatened. This paper presents preliminary results of research that has examined the establishment of a new institution charged with protecting Maori cultural and ecological heritage while simultaneously engaging with non-Maori research, science and technology to supply niche markets leveraged of indigenous labeling. Within this 'System of Provision', Maori 'interrogate' innovations in an effort to embed a discourse of sustainability that is attuned to the needs of Maori eco-cultural resilience.

Maori potato, Solanum tuberosum var. urenika.

This variety has been grown in Aotearoa/New Zealand for 200 years, A South American vege arriving courtesy of European explorers, now labelled a 'Maori spud' and featuring in any number of promotional ventures. The name translates as 'Black penis'; the variety is called 'Tutaekuri' by others, which tranlsates as 'Dog Shit' (and one would hazard a guess that this is the more accurate description...).