April 10, 2024
Children of Hineahuone feed the world
A Māori agriculture scientist says the food systems need to be seen in terms of tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake.
Jessica Hutchings has organised this week’s He Whenua Rongo symposium at Te Mahurehure Marae in Point Chevalier, looking at issues like seeds, soil and food sovereignty.
She says while the attention is usually on large scale food production, in a crisis the focus shift to what is available locally, which is where Indigenous peoples doing localised small-scale food farming can be key to saving the world.
“It really is again coming back to this idea that small is beautiful. Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu. This is what’s gonna feed people,” she says.
Ms Hutchings says she also wants to elevate the mana of Hineahuone, the soil deity.