“Food Markets and

Society III” – Coming to the

Table.

Presented by Dr Jessica Hutchings.

Research Team: Dr Jessica Hutchings, Katrina Taupo, and Alex Barnes

Te Wāhanga, NZCER

Project Focus (part 1)

• How can dialogue with

diverse Māori communities

support sustainable

decision-making on future

food technologies?

• Trial dialogic mode with

Māori communities

Project Focus (part 2)

• Deepen diverse Māori

understandings of

biotechnology,

nanotechnologies,

sustainable agriculture

and functional foods as

they relate to future foods.

• Research design was pre-

determined and not

kaupapa Māori based. This

presented some challenges

for Māori participants (more

on this finding later)

Project Limitations

“We are kaitiaki for our tamariki and mokopuna and if we

cannot be the exemplars of how to cook, where to source

kai, the best way to ensure sustainability for our next

generation then kei te aha mātou? This kōrero has helped

reinforce our strong beliefs.” (Community Māori participant)

• Negotiating kaupapa

Māori approaches and

methods within the wider

frame of the research

• Cohort size was small –

16 Māori participants –

cannot generalise from

these results

•

Project Limitations

“I am even more suspicious of any outcomes for new technologies, and the

ability to make these outcomes work for Māori, Pacific Island and indigenous

peoples. Will these technologies actually matter to our people?” (Community

Māori participant)

Iwi Māori, Western Science and Dialogue – Understanding the context

• Views are polarised:

“media fuelled”, “no

middle ground”

• Domination of western

science through the

colonising process

• Valuing and validating

indigenous knowledge

– Pūtaiao when

thinking about future

foods

Overall rankings Maori and Non Maori

7

Heart of the Matter

Workshops (Well) N=8

• Most cohesive layering of narrative and deep sense of

food connected to local environment, whanau and

traditional knowledges; ‘kai is more than food, there is a

whakapapa component, a matauranga component’.

• Emphasised need for proper consultation, including

kaupapa Maori processes, accessible and relevant

information, and for Maori to be at the fore and centre for

any decision-making for future food technologies.

• Large scale sustainable agriculture acceptable, future

investment decisions should be underpinned by

consideration of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, WAI 262, and the

impact to the environment both physically, and in terms

of matauranga Māori.

Future Foods & Māori Well-

being: Our Findings

• Value Te Tiriti o Waitangi – WAI 262

Claim

• Work within tikanga Māori and

mātauranga Māori spaces

• Invest in Māori decision-making

models

• Concern and threat of biolcolonialism,

‘bioprospecting’, ‘biodiscovery’ and

‘Free Trade Agreements’.

• Concerns about Intellectual Property

Rights (IPRs)

• Need to decolonise Māori

‘hegemonic’ decision-making

Future Foods & Māori Well-

being: Our findings

• Support sustainable

agriculture: “This reflects

how I think our relationship

with the natural world

should be. It’s about the

land, it’s about the plants,

the kai” (Scientist, Māori

participant)

• Build cultural capability!

The findings re-affirm our previous experiences about

kai, mātauranga Māori and the use new technologies.

“...how can you contribute to maintenance of

Papatūānuku as well as creating new foods and

technologies?” (Community, Māori participant)

“...the whakapapa of food groups go straight back to

Māori in which case Māori would be a serious

contender and joint partner in the creation of new

foods and technology for resources.” (Community,

Māori participant)

Future Foods & Māori

Well-being: Our findings

Futre Foods and Māori Well-being: Our findings

• Investment decisions

driven by whānau, hapū

and iwi that act for

diverse Māori realities

• Retain food chain

diversity

• More investment in the

socio-cultural aspects of

scientific research

Images used with artists permission. Source: Smith and

Reynolds. 2002. Aue Genes and Genetics. Wanganui Iwi

Law Centre: Wanganui.

What’s New?

• Imposition of Western

dialogue models does

not work for many

Māori

• Uphold hui, wānanga,

whitiwhiti kōrero

methods

• Acknowledge levels of

distrust

• Develop ‘critical’ Māori

scientists

Future Foods and Diverse Māori Communities : What next?

• Clear Māori positioning: Māori

must be framing research and

science decision-making in future

foods

• Invest in: Māori research,

relationships with whānau, hapū

and consumer groups, “cultural

competency”

• Capacity build: Professional

development for scientists, mix of

“hard” and “soft” sciences

Whakapaa Mai: Contact Details

• Te Wāhanga, NZCER,

www.nzcer.org.nz/te-wahanga

• Ph +644 384 7939

• Dr Jessica Hutchings:

Jessica.Hutchings@nzcer.org.nz