Feast Matariki 2020 & July News

This year the constellation Matariki will rise on the 13th - 15th of July. It's a time of renewal and contemplation for thousands of years here in the South Pacific, we’ve been celebrating the winter months (Pipiri) by drawing close and feasting. We think it's a wonderful time to give thanks for the food of our amazing country. Some of the stars of Matariki represent the water, earth, ocean, air and the bounty that came from them. It is the end of one growing year and the promise of a new one ahead.

Feast Matariki seeks to re-emerge these stories by celebrating our nation’s (modern-day) national food celebration. We hope that despite new and challenging circumstances throughout the country, people will still take the time to come together and share food, no matter what their heritage or background. Make a moment to reconnect with where our food comes from and to recognise the truly incredible ingredients we grow, catch and make here. Let us know if you will be celebrating Matariki with food, it could be a community event, your local farmers market coming together, a menu or some other type of activation. If you are planning a Matariki celebration let us know about it here.

Tell us about your Feast Matariki Event here...

Introducing the Eat New Zealand Podcast.

Today we officially launch the Eat New Zealand podcast, an evolving series where we free-range across our food nation, from agriculture to food communities, hospitality to food experiences in Aotearoa. We’ll have conversations with many of our thought-leaders and eaters, farmers and harvesters, chefs and food guides. These episodes will be hosted variously by chef Asher Boote and our CEO Angela Clifford. Our first episode follows on from the initial ConversatioNZ webinar - "The Restaurant is Dead, Long Live the Restaurant". Asher talks to Alex Davies of Gatherings in Christchurch, Jackie Lee Morrison from Lashings in Wellington, and Lucas Parkinson from Ode in Wanaka - they all shared openly about their personal and professional lockdown learnings and their hopes for the future of hospitality in New Zealand. Join us as we tuck into our food stories!

Tune in to the Eat New Zealand Podcast episode...

ConversatioNZ 2.0 - He Awa Whiria

Thank you to those who joined our ConversatioNZ 2.0 webinar last Tuesday "We Don’t Need a Ministry of Food, We Need a Citizenry of Food". To keep this kõrero going we want to invite you all to add your voice to the conversation about a National Food Strategy. We've made it super simple in the form of a survey. Please consider sharing your thoughts here. He Awa Whiria or ‘Braided Rivers’ was a concept shared by Dr. Jessica Hutchings during our conversation. It’s a significant kaupapa Māori model that weaves together western science and Te Ao Māori research. It was developed by Professor Angus McFarlane in 2011 and the understanding is that much like a braided river, along the journey there will be places where the rivers will cross and times when they are apart. But by bringing together different views, voices and perspectives, we can come together and move forward towards a collective outcome that benefits all New Zealanders. Join the journey!

If you missed the webinar you can watch the recording here.

Take the Survey & Watch ConversatioNZ 2.0

Next up for ConversatioNZ...

3.0 Radical Regionalisation

The third of our webinar series will explore what happens if we unlock the power and visions of our regional food producers, advocates and organisations. We are also working on specific food system sized projects including the continuation of connecting all our food and beverage producers into our story through our regions.

Webinar via Zoom. Tuesday 7th July. 4pm - 5pm.

Attendance is FREE. Book a space @ Radical Regionalisation

4.0 Further ConversatioNZ about a National Food Strategy.

Following on from last weeks conversation on 21st July we will continue the conversation around developing a National Food Strategy for New Zealand.

Webinar via Zoom. Tuesday 21st July. 4pm - 5pm.

Attendance is FREE. Book a space @ Further ConversatioNZ about a National Food Strategy

Keep an eye on Instagram @eat.newzealand and Facebook Eat New Zealand for more details.

What does New Zealand taste like?

Last week in the NZ Herald, Lucy Corry spoke to our CEO Angela Clifford, Chef Monique Fiso of Hiakai and Rewi Spraggon of The Māori Kitchen, who shared a few thoughts about what they think New Zealand food tastes like...

"New Zealand food tastes like its geography; we have really unique attributes in our UV light, our maritime climate and our young soils. There are so many truly local and regional flavours in our food.” "New Zealand food tastes like love. You can't show hospitality without it. When we have a kai, it's us together as people, a genuine connection that sits at a level that other experiences don't have." - Angela Clifford.

"It's briny and salty, but it's also earthy and fresh," she says. "It's about seafood but it's also about the forest." - Monique Fiso.

"Māori have always known about Aotearoa's regional delicacies and tribes traded these special foods between them. It's no different to the wines of Bordeaux, but our New Zealand story has been lost. We talk about being Kiwi this and Kiwi that, but how many of us are true to it? We need to appreciate what we have." - Rewi Spraggon.

Read the full article here.

Kaitaki - Food Guides.

Thank you for the interest and enthusiam around our new project Kaitaki - Food Guides. We've seen some incredible applications come through and we are currently in the process of finding our collective of young people throughout the regions. Stay tuned as we begin a new era in sharing the diversity of our food stories. You can read more about Kaitaki here and if you are interested in supporting this mahi - get in touch!

We'd like to acknowledge the generous and ongoing support of our sponsors, particularly ANZ, Beef + Lamb NZ and the Restaurant Association.

Mauri ora
Angela Clifford, CEO Eat New Zealand

+64 274 242 871

angela@eatnewzealand.nz