The power of food to bring communities together is being highlighted by Invercargill’s Cook Island Community Church. 

“It is very important to us,” garden project coordinator Tiare Pukeiti says. 

“To have taro, one of our island delicacies, on the table at the church (all year round) is very nice.” 

A community garden movement sprouting from the Murihiku Maara initiative is helping create these opportunities for community connection, with the Cook Island Community Church enjoying another opportunity to come together through their shared cultural traditions. 

Fellow Maara initiatives, the McQuarrie Park Orchard and Te Maara o te Murunga a Rangi me te Hapori (Te Maara), are developing and are already bringing communities together as they work on site plans and concepts. 

However, the Cook Island Community Church garden is already flourishing, with the produce being harvested and used at several community “feasts”. 

Eating together as a community is central to Cook Islands culture. 

As Tiare explains, the garden has not only provided the food to bring people together, it has also created an avenue for people to share in the work and the pride of growing that food. 

“Everyone has contributed to do their bit. Everyone in the community is so happy.” 

“When I come here there’s always someone around here (helping with the garden).” 

The centrepiece of the garden is the taro crop, a staple food item in the Cook Islands. It is not grown commercially in NZ, and imported taro is very expensive to buy. It is a rich source of essential nutrients. 

Being able to offer the church community this culturally significant food has ignited a true sense of belonging in the church, and helped motivate people to keep the garden going, he said. 

“In the first harvest we cleaned out the whole lot. They (the church community) would love to have more. It’s for the community, to bring them here to eat together. People are telling their friends about the taro and then they are coming next week to the church.” 

Healthy Families Invercargill’s support, through the Murihiku Maara initiative, had been instrumental, Tiare said. 

The user-friendly nature of the funding process, combined with the help the Healthy Families Invercargill team provided in working through the procurement process, meant the garden could be established quickly and without any problems, he said. 

One of the next steps was to look at bringing young church members in to plant fruit trees. 

“I want to get the young ones, the kids of the church, so that they will remember, because in 20 years’ time or 10 years’ time they’ll be up here saying ‘I planted that,’.” 

“When they get older they’re always going to tell their kids ‘I planted that’.” 

Healthy Families Invercargill Lead Systems Innovator Stella O’Connor said the Murihiku Maara initiative was designed to increase the number and success of community gardens in Invercargill but was also about supporting communities to take the lead in these gardens. 

“Everyone should be able to access good nutritious food at all times, including food that is culturally appropriate. The Murihiku Maara initiative is helping drive towards that, and the Cook Island Community Church is a brilliant example of a community working together to create success in that space.” 

Article added: Monday 24 April 2023