February 26, 2024
Ngāti Toa backing social supermarket
Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira hope to give whānau the kai and skills needed to rise above poverty by opening Porirua’s first social supermarket.
Te Umu ki Rangituhi opened last week in Elsdon in collaboration with Foodstuffs North Island, the operators of the PAK’nSAVE, New World, Four Square and Gilmours chains.
Rūnanga chief executive Helmut Modlik says unlike a food bank, people are given points depending on the size of their whanau, which they can then use to pick their kai and other items.
He says people don’t want to be needy, so the social supermarket is seen as transitional support.
“Our view in Ngāti Toa is that children aren’t poor, parents are poor. So what we try to do is to ensure that not only can we provide a fish but that we can support the whanau of being increasingly able to fish going forward. But if you’re hungry today, no use talking about what might be needed down the road – we have to take care of both of those needs and that’s what Te Umu ki Rangituhi is all about,” he says
To use the service, whanau must register with the runanga’s social services team Te Roopu Awhina .