The Shortest Meal - 21st June

Friday 21st of June is the shortest day of the year. It’s also World Localization Day and is right in the middle of Feast Matariki!

For the second year, in 2024 we are celebrating ⬅️ The Shortest Meal ➡️ and would love to invite you all to join us!

It’s a simple as sharing a meal that comes from your local food system or represents NZ food for you.

The ingredients could be something you’ve grown or found. They could also support small food producers, markets, or wherever you find your food.

It doesn’t need to perfect in terms of provenance or presentation. We just want to celebrate the opportunity to reconnect to where our food comes from and with each other.

Shining this light on the darkest day of the year is a powerful and positive way to show your love for Aotearoa food.

Last year saw some wonderful efforts including New Zealand grown grains, which can be something we don’t often think about, despite being such a large and important part of our diet. Many people also took the opportunity to share their food culture using New Zealand ingredients celebrating the diversity of our people.

If you’re posting on Instagram or Facebook tag us in @eat.newzealand, so we can reshare.

You can also use hashtags such as: #GrowFoodCommunities #KnowYourFarmer #KnowYourFisher #EatNZGrains #EatNZ #FeastMatariki #TheShortestMeal #WorldLocalizationDay @localfutures_ to create the biggest reach.

It’s a great way to celebrate what you grow or find, small food producers, farmers markets and other retailers, community food projects or even just eating NZ grown food for a day!

Check out some examples from The Shortest Meal 2023 over on Instagram here.

We can’t wait to see your version of the shortest meal!