Food for thought WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY ANDY TAYLOR & IMAGES SUPPLIED
You’re going to be hearing a lot about Kai Rotorua in the coming years. They have big plans for a food hub, a seed bank, a café and more, all built around the dream of reconnecting whanau with the land. And to make that dream a reality they have turned to the humble kumara. When Te Rangikaheke Kiripatea says that this is a story with a million moving parts, he isn’t joking. Having worked in television and the telecommunications world, when he chose to retire Te Rangikaheke decided to come home, back to Rotorua, but he hasn’t exactly been taking it easy. Instead, as volunteer facilitator at Kai Rotorua he and Jasmin Jackson founder, have had a very busy year that culminated this month with more than 150 volunteers gathering at Te Puea near the RotoruaWhakatāne turnoff to plant 3500 kumara seedlings. The volunteers were students from Tauranga, Rotorua and Taupō, they had a bit of help from Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick, and as the saying goes, many hands make light work. “3,500 tipu (seedlings) is a lot,” says Te Rangikaheke, “but when you have people with passion and vision, you can achieve a lot. The planting was done in about an hour and a half. And then we had a cup of tea, some kai time to talk and socialize.” P L E N T Y. C O . N Z // N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8
51
