Auckland-based Māori providers want a better supply chain for kai by working alongside supermarkets to deliver it.
That comes as Social Development MinisterCarmel Seuloni admits the government wasn't prepared for the number of people having to self isolate and needing help.
A new Māori food network has sprung into place, collaborating with supermarkets. The kaupapa will be driven by Auckland Māori providers who collectively call themselves Te Taumata Kōrero. Their project aims to help families in low socio-economic areas who have no transport and keep them safe in their bubbles.
Frontline workers are seeing whānau struggling to afford the basic essentials such as fruit, vegetables and cleaning products. But just over a week into lockdown the government decided to offer $7 million to help providers to carry out this service after Te Taumata Kōrero who serve over 200 thousand Māori from Te Hana (North Auckland) to Port Waikato sought help.
Closed supermarkets
“Kai is an important commodity and to have confidence that our whānau can access kai in all circumstances has been on our minds since the last series of lockdowns,”Manukau Urban Māori Authority chief executive Wyn Osborne says,
Last week, seven Countdown stores became locations of interest and had to temporarily close.
One whānau in Papakura is finding shopping a daunting task as its nearby Countdown was forced to shut down for deep-cleaning. It put more demand on her local store. "People are lined up worse," Ngārangi Kahui Sadler says.
The problem gets worse when products are wiped off the shelves. Sadler, who is caring for four mokopuna has relied on local wrap-around service providers to help her.
“There's hardly any kai there because everybody has been in there before you and you have to carry on and go to another shop and carry on to the next shop until you get what you want.”
Surprisingly, the government wasn't ready for the problems that flared up this time in New Zealand's second national lockdown.
Unexpected demand
“We of course had to pivot too. We did not anticipate this many people in self-isolation needing support and whatnot," Sepuloni says.
But the Māori food network should mean numbers going into the supermarket will be reduced in any future lockdown.
"They're coming to us with ideas how we could do it better moving forward," the minister says.
“The Taumata Kōrero network set up here in Tāmaki and I guess given the number of cases here, the locations of interests, they have been incredibly active and there is a huge demand on their service," she says.