Whenua Warrior

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Moko Morris talks with Kelly Francis, a Kai Oranga graduate and the catalyst for over 250 food gardens that have been planted since last spring.

Motivated by attending a Kai Oranga course at Papatuānuku Marae, Kelly Francis (Ngāti Wharara, Ngāti Korokoro and Ngāpuhi) created a charitable trust and social enterprise movement called Whenua Warrior. Her vision is to have a harvestable garden available to every person in the country and her mission is to feed, teach and empower communities through māra kai (food gardens).

Providing solutions and connection

The idea came to Kelly from understanding communities that she had been in, the challenges they face and the solutions she had learnt to share. It solves multiple issues including knowledge- and time- poor whānau, provides financial stability through not having to purchase vegetables, and offers a connection to Papatuānuku (Mother Earth) and what she provides us with.

“The most important thing I learnt on the Kai Oranga course was Hua Parakore – the six principles of the Hua Parakore verification system,” says Kelly.

“It also came from knowing the mana you can get from providing kai to your whānau, the need to understand the whakapapa of your kai and the advantages of connecting your wairua with mahi māra kai. I wanted to find a way to help our communities with these indigenous techniques and tried to imagine the entire country understanding their food in this depth… and then find a way to give that koha to them.”

So Whenua Warrior was born.

How it works

Involving others comes naturally for Kelly; they usually find her. It’s the story, passion or mahi behind each project that attracts people to her kaupapa. Finding people is very important to her – but whoever is there on the day are the people that were meant to be. Her approach to gardening projects is to ensure that community and their needs are met first and foremost. What Whenua Warrior build and who they build it with needs to be sustainable and beneficial for years to come. Anyone can put a box of dirt in your backyard, but not everyone can teach how to get that box of dirt to benefit you, your family, hapū and iwi.

Once a māra kai is established, there must be buy – in from families so that there is a foundation of people that work together to ensure the benefits are felt wide and far.

‘Build day’ is about the community and its people, not the garden. Post – build is about supporting the people to support the garden.

There are two different arms to the Whenua Warrior approach:

1. 100% community-based, with no money involved. The community identifies what they need and Whenua Warrior supports them to source seedlings, soil and materials, then helps to facilitate the build and works out ways it can be managed.

2. 100% community – based, backed by funding. A call-out is made to the community as above, then funding is accessed if required.

This approach has been successful and over 250 māra kai have been built so far, in South Auckland, Mount Wellington and Whangarei. Whenua Warrior is now in its eleventh month, and has started on more of the larger-sized gardens rather than focus on the number. In September this year, 50 gardens will be built in the back of 50 homes in Kawakawa. The process from initial contact to actual build varies from place to place but is usually done in under six weeks.

Hua Parakore principles

Kelly explains the principles of Hua Parakore (clean, pure, kai atua) in the following way:

“When contemplating a project, I look at the dates of the maramataka (moon planting calendar) that I can plan on to benefit the build day, hui days, decision days. It is an important aspect in all parts of the project for the wellness of people and for the timeline structure for the project.

“I consider te ao tūroa [the natural world] when we are on the whenua and trying to discover what Papatuānuku already has and what can be built to benefit the tangata whenua. Knowing your surroundings and your options for build is something our tohunga would be responsible for before the land was confirmed to build māra on.

“At this stage whakapapa is considered as well. What happened here? How was this whenua used? What is the whakapapa of the area, people, whenua? Kōrero on the land will potentially allow us to discover the best possible places to plant A versus B.

“We then have the holistic connections that are in our principles: wairua, or spirit. I ask to make sure that I am allowed on the land to do the mahi – ask tangata whenua directly but also karakia to ask our tupuna to ensure our holistic safety. We connect everything physical to spiritual and must acknowledge everyone at every time.”

Wairua can also be a verb – ‘acting with wairua, doing with wairua’, says Kelly. “All actions taken in the build day must have everyone’s wairua in mind. I think that the wrong wairua can mean an empty plate. Everyone must be in tune with each other… and share the mauri.

Mauri is what you are passing on from you to kai, and from kai back to you. This is most important when planting – and the atmosphere for planting needs to be completely serene and positive. What you plant is what you eat, and I consider it a hugely important part of build day to get the community mauri at its highest to allow the passing from them to their kai, and eventually from the kai to them.

Mana – this is felt mainly when all of the above has been completed. The principle that can only be reported to yourself. Mana is not something you earn – it is something within you. Only you can choose how much mana you apply to each decision you make. It is your spiritual pat on the back – and I normally feel this when I am back home and contemplating the completion of each project.

Whānau and kai more important than money.

Kelly says the most fun part is meeting the communities and teaching and learning at the same time together. She shares the matauranga (knowledge) in a way that benefits Papatuānuku, focusing on knowing that people are better off and proving her strong view that money shouldn’t be the main focus of life: family and kai is.

“I built this idea out of hope, because I truly care about what your kids will be able to access when they are responsible to provide food for their tables. We should be thinking of what we can do NOW to benefit them then,” says Kelly.

“I strongly encourage all families in New Zealand to plant fruit trees and vegetables in every household. There are no negatives to growing your own food.”

Moko Morris is a Soil & Health National Councillor who lives in Ōtaki. She is also the national coordinator of Te Waka Kai Ora, the NZ Māori Organics Authority.

This artical was originally created in 2018.

Where’s our food from? Better labelling a step forward

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The blindfold will finally be lifted when it comes to buying food, but the Soil & Health Association says consumers need even greater transparency.

Soil & Health welcomes the passing into law of the Consumers’ Right to Know (Country of Origin of Food) Bill. The Bill, which requires food to carry country of origin labelling, passed with near unanimous support last night in Parliament. While footwear and clothing must be identified where they’re from, until now country of origin of food labelling has only been voluntary in New Zealand.

The Bill was a first introduced in 2016 by former MP, and now Soil & Health National Council member, Steffan Browning, as a Green Party Member’s bill.

“Transparent food labelling is fundamental in allowing people to make informed choices. Mandatory country of origin labelling is a step towards allowing consumers to do this,” says Steffan Browning.

The Bill however only applies to single ingredient foods such as fresh fruit, meat, fish and vegetables and Soil & Health says foods of multiple origins should be labelled too. This requirement could be brought in later through the setting of Fair Trading Act regulations.

“The Bill is a building block to more comprehensive food labelling requirements,” says Browning.

Soil & Health is also concerned that several single origin foods have been excluded from the Bill, including flour, oils, nuts and seeds.

“We particularly want flours and grains included, as most of the soy and maize products from the US are genetically modified. It’s absolutely necessary we have GE food labelling, but in that absence of enforcement we should at the very least be able to choose what country maize and soy products are from,” says Browning.

There has been widespread support for country of origin labelling. A survey conducted last year by Consumer NZ and Horticulture NZ found that 71% of Kiwis want mandatory country of origin labelling and 65% said they looked for country of origin labelling when they were shopping.

“There are many reasons why consumers want to know which country their food comes from. Some want to avoid GE food, food with pesticide residues, or food coming from countries with poor labour conditions or environmental and animal welfare standards,” says Browning.

Soil & Health has been campaigning for mandatory country of origin labelling for over a decade, since the government opted out of joining Australia in mandating country of origin labelling under the Food Standards Code on the grounds it would be an impediment to trade.

This media release was originally created in 2018.

The ‘dirty dozen’ – latest update

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Organic NZ Magazine: January/February 2014
Section: Health and Food
Author: Alison White

  • Grapes are amongst the foods with the highest pesticide residues

  • Which foods in New Zealand are more likely to have pesticide residues?

  • What’s wrong with pesticide residues in food?

  • How can pesticide residues in food be reduced?

  • Alison White answered these questions in Organic NZ May/June 2010. Here she revisits them and gives us an update:

    • Which foods have the most pesticide residues? Grapes, celery, a range of fruit, pak or bok choi, spring onions, cucumber, and bread are all ranked in the top dozen of foods available in New Zealand which are more likely to contain pesticide residues. Close contenders behind this ‘dirty dozen’ are apples, spinach, olive oil, muesli and tomatoes.

    Changes over the past four years

    Compared to the last dirty dozen in 2009, there are a number of foods included which have not been analysed before, and a number excluded simply because we rely on data produced by the Ministry of Primary Industries.1 Lemons, olive oil, pak choi, spring onions, tamarillos and walnuts are among foods that have not been analysed before. Plums, mandarins, raspberries and lettuce were in the last dirty dozen, but because they have not been analysed since before 2009, we just don’t know what the residues are like now. Generally we can say that fruit is more likely to contain pesticide residues along with salad vegetables and bread.

    Should we be concerned about pesticide residues?

    Every mouthful of non-organic food we eat is also a cocktail of pesticides. Many of these pesticides have not been adequately tested to see what effects they may produce, particularly long-term ones. The little testing that is carried out does not reflect actual human exposure to a multitude of chemicals, nor does it usually test the most vulnerable – the foetus and young child.

    We do not know enough about the effects of these chemicals in our food. However, there are various serious long-term effects associated with particular pesticides that are found in our food, including endocrine or hormonal disruption, cancer, immune system suppression, nervous system damage, genetic damage and birth defects. We also know that various pesticides used to grow food have damaging effects on wildlife and the ecosystem.

    The dirty dozen

    Food in New Zealand more likely to contain pesticide residues ranked according to number of pesticides detected in total samples and percentage with pesticides.

    Food % with residues No. of pesticides Sample Size
    1. Grapes 98.2 35 56
    2. Celery 100 19 51
    3. Bok/Pak Choi 95.7 21 47
    4. Nectarines 100 15 36
    5. Oranges 98.2 16 56
    6. Strawberries 100 14 8
    7. Spring Onion 97.9 15 48
    8. Lemons 92 20 50
    9. Wheat 87.3 23 150
    10. Cucumber 82.1 27 56
    11. Pears 100 9 8
    12. Broccoli 92.9 10 57

     

    Reduce pesticide load: eat organic

    If you buy organic food – at least the foods listed here – then you will be significantly reducing the pesticide load on your body. This is particularly so for infants and children, as they take in more food in proportion to their body weight than adults do, and they also tend to eat more of the types of food that are more heavily sprayed, such as fruit. Indeed, an American study has found that if children eat mostly organic food, then the average amount of organophosphate residues as measured in their urine is nine times lower than those children eating conventional food.2 Other studies have since reasserted the finding that dietary intake of pesticides represents the major source of organophosphate exposure in children.3

    Protecting our babies and children

    In 2007 more than 200 scientists from five continents called for a precautionary4 approach to toxic chemicals, to protect foetuses and children from chemical exposures that may cause serious disease later in life, and which may also afflict their children and grandchildren.5 The present policy of many governments of assuming a chemical is safe until overwhelming evidence of harm is proved, favours manufacturers and users more than children with their unique vulnerability. Exposure may result in an array of health problems, including diabetes, attention deficit disorders, prostate cancer, fertility problems, thyroid disorders and even obesity. If the foetus is exposed to even a minute amount of an endocrine disruptor at a particular time, then growth of critical organs and functions can be skewed, and it can set the child up for chronic illnesses, such as cancer, later in life. Reducing the exposure of the foetus to organophosphate pesticides, in particular, could reduce the risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

    Chlorpyrifos: a persistent insecticide

    The organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos is a potent developmental neurotoxin at low levels of exposure, linked in several studies with reduced IQ and delayed cognitive and psychomotor development, as well as being an endocrine disruptor with anti-androgenic and estrogenic qualities, causing breast cancer cells to grow. Children exposed in the womb to this pesticide have been found to have cognitive impairment at least 11 years after birth, according to a study published in 2012.6This insecticide is very persistent in the environment and has been found in Arctic ice, fog, air, seawater, fish and vegetation, as well as placental blood and breastmilk.7 Chlorpyrifos is used on a range of fruit and vegetables and grain in New Zealand and has been found especially in bread and other wheat products, processed foods such as muesli, and grapes, raisins, sultanas and olive oil among others.

    Would you like fungicide with that?

    Also of particular concern is a group of fungicides called dithiocarbamates, of which mancozeb is common. These are used on a wide range of fruit and vegetables, and have been found in grapes, celery, pears, strawberries, apples, avocadoes, tomatoes, brassica, potatoes and even in infant foods. The 2009 Total Diet Survey (TDS) remarks that the estimated exposure to these fungicides has more than doubled since the previous TDS in 2003/2004. The fungicides have a metabolite or breakdown product, ethylene thiourea, which is known to cause cancer, endocrine disruption, thyroid damage and birth defects. This metabolite unfortunately increases on exposure to heat and in storage.

    Organic: healthy for people and the environment

    Usually, washing, peeling and cooking reduce the amount of pesticide residues, however some persist. If you think organic food is too expensive, remember that non-organic food does not include the cost of biodiversity loss and other environmental degradation. With organic food you pay the real cost for real food, and you give the grower a fairer return. By having organic food you support a system which better protects our children and the environment.

    By Alison White, Safe Food Campaign, www.safefood.org.nz

    References

    1.     Data obtained from New Zealand government surveys: 2009 New Zealand Total Diet Survey, NZ Food Residue Surveillance Programmes 2009–2012, all available at www.nzfsa.govt.nz.Results from several years were combined to produce sample sizes that were more robust for analysis. Note that wheat samples included bread, biscuits, bran flake cereal, cake, noodles, fish fingers, battered fish, meat pies, muffins, pasta, pizza, sausages, cereal wheat biscuits.

    2.     Curl, CL, Fenske RA, Elgethun K (2003), ‘Organophosphorus pesticide exposure of urban and suburban pre-school children with organic and conventional diets’, Environ Health Perspect, March 2003.

    3.     Lu C, Barr DB, Pearson MA, Waller LA (2008), ‘Dietary intake and its contribution to longitudinal organophosphorus pesticide exposure in urban/suburban children’, Environ Health Perspect, 2008, 116(4): 537-42.

    4.     www.precaution.org/lib/pp_def.htm

    5.     Grandjean P et al. (2007), ‘The Faroes Statement: Human Health Effects of Developmental Exposure to Chemicals in Our Environment’, Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology, 102, 73–75.

    6.     Rauh VA, Perera FP, et al., (2012), ‘Brain anomalies in children exposed prenatally to a common organophosphate pesticide’, PNAS 109(20): 7871-6.

    7.     Watts, M (2013), PAN AP Monograph on chlorpyrifos, www.panap.net/sites/default/files/monograph-chlorpyrifos.pdf

Safe food

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There are increasing levels of diet-related health issues in Aotearoa New Zealand. Many illnesses have been linked to food including diabetes, attention deficit disorder, fertility problems, thyroid disorders, obesity, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Aotearoa New Zealand has the third highest adult obesity rate in the OECD and one in ten children are obese. The majority of people in the developed world eats excessive quantities of highly processed pre-packaged foods and have no idea about the number of harmful chemicals they are exposed to every day through the food they eat. Many pesticides have been consistently linked to cancers and other long-term illnesses.

Micronutrients are essential for good health but are commonly lacking or diminished in industrially produced food. This has led to a demand for safe, organic food free of harmful chemicals. There is a growing awareness of food and how it determines health. People are now becoming more aware of what is in our food and demanding to know how it is grown.

The Soil & Health Association believes that everyone has a right to safe food, which covers the right to have food free from:

Microbial contamination, harmful organisms, pesticide, harmful chemical, and heavy metal contaminants, harmful additives, irradiation, and genetic engineering.

Soil & Health believes that government intervention and regulation are required to ensure that everyone has access to a healthy, balanced diet, and the knowledge and means with which to make the best food choices.

Soil & Health supports:

Healthy food being available in all public institutions such as early childhood centres, schools, hospitals, retirement homes and prisons.

Education in schools about healthy diets and nutrition.

A greater emphasis on primary and preventive health care.

Photo credit: Nick Holmes

Food labelling

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To know our food is safe and free from contamination and harmful residues is a fundamental human right. However the right to know exactly what we are eating is often taken away and even routinely denied to us. While growing our own food or buying local and organic food remains the best way to ensure we know what we are eating, we must also know what has been sprayed onto crops and soil, added to foods, and used in the processing of the food we purchase.

Soil & Health is committed to advocating for clear and honest food labelling in Aotearoa New Zealand. We believe that transparent food labelling is fundamental in allowing people to make informed choices.

We stand for:

Country-of-origin labelling.

Labelling of the origin and production method for all meat, eggs and dairy products used in any food, and the source of all seafood. The country where the product is processed should also be identified.

All oils (e.g. palm oil, canola etc.) being specifically declared as an ingredient where used, not just as a ‘vegetable oil’.

Regulations and guidelines on claims about natural, sustainable, locally produced, fairly traded, and organic, being developed to ensure that people are not misled or deceived.

GE foods or foods containing GE ingredients being labelled as including or containing GE ingredients.

Labelling of any irradiated food or food ingredient.

Labelling standards for animal welfare claims.

                                            Photo credit: Nick Holmes