Kai Aotearoa seminar series – 20 September 2023

Seminar 3
Mātauranga Kai

Professor Lisa Te Morenga, Joe Mcleod & Asher Regan

The “Mātauranga Kai” project aims to gather pūrākau (stories) about kai Māori (food), from elders knowledge holders who grew up in provincial towns in Te Tai Tokerau, Taranaki,Tairawhiti and Te Tauihu rohe. From these pūrākau we hope to find new ways to inspire rangatahi (youth) and pakeke (adults) about healthier and more sustainable ways of eating that connect us back to the traditional Māori world. The panel also discusses the state of Māori kai in Aotearoa at the moment and the role of Māori chefs in promoting and safeguarding it.

Lisa Te Morenga is a nutrition and Māori health researcher with the Research Centre for Hauora and Health at Massey University Wellington, a principal investigator with the Riddet Centre of Research Excellence and a Rutherford Discovery Fellow. Her current programme of research investigates Māori identity foods, their impact and the potential to leverage traditional knowledge on kai to improve Māori community wellbeing. She is also working on community-centre projects to improve health services and health outcomes for Māori whanau in the fields of pain, cancer and rangatahi wellbeing

Joe McLeod has been working in the hospitality industry since 1972 cooking in kitchens such as the Ritz in London, including preparing dinners for high end diplomats, royal families, and heads of states. He has a passion for enhancing, preserving and promoting traditional Indigenous culinary culture. His focus lies on bringing his people back to their roots. The priority now is to reconnect Māori old food knowledge to the marae to educate and reconnect these tribal groups with their traditional cuisine. Joe is celebrating the gifts that have been handed down by his elders so that it may never be lost.

Asher Regan is a PhD candidate at Massey University. His research focuses on how Māori chefs are influencing the discourses around kai in Aotearoa and the ways in which these discourses contribute to the well-being of Māori. Raised and still at home in Te Aro, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Asher enjoyed food and set about forging a career in food during high school, initially washing dishes in restaurants, followed by training, and working as a chef in Aotearoa and abroad. He returned to study and gained an MA in human nutrition at the University of Otago after which he was able to combine his food skills and knowledge producing food skill resources for the Heart Foundation.

Click here to view a recording of the seminar