Papatoetoe Food Hub - soon with Lovo, Umu and Hangi...

Last weekend, I also took my Tikanga (level 4) Indigenous Research class to view a local Papatoetoe Food Hub which is first of its kind as a Social Enterprise that brings together a collaboration including community workers (paid volunteers) and the business sector i.e. Owner of Papatoetoe New World with consumers.

It's been the brain child of Raj, who used to work in Social Services for years but has now traded his work in a government department for serving the community in this innovative Social Entreprise.

It's quite amazing in that 3+ years ago, when I first discovered the fledging Food Hub through a student of mine who introduced me to the Hub over lunch and worked locally, I was quite impressed by the vision and then brought along my beloved to dine and view.

However, since the global pandemic hit Auckland, I hadn't been back until quite recently. However, upon returning to enjoy our meals (fantastically plated as above) and delicious as well as very reasonable prices, I was very impressed in that so much had changed to now include looking at making up 'umu' (Samoan earth oven), 'lovo' (Fijian earth oven) and 'hangi' (Maori earth oven) onto the menu.

Raj is currently looking for some young men/women who would be interested in learning and helping to pack a umu, lovo or hangi on Friday's and possibly Saturdays for a couple of hours and for their assistance would be also able to receive lunch.

This is quite a neat opportunity as not everyone knows how to make a umu, lovo or hangi or even what the difference is between them all. This would give the opportunity for them to learn about tradition ovens and food cooking plus also the different food preparation that goes into them and what does not work well in the earth ovens.

It might even be a neat way of passing on this knowledge because you never know if there's a chance to go back to the Islands and to live off the land (off the grid) and to be able to do these things from scratch or to even learn the principles of how to make earth ovens.

My class was wonderfully impressed with so much that they were able to learn and pick up from the Food Hub about sustainable living, also about worm farming, composting, planting planter boxes and so much more. 

If you are ever in the area, why not stop by and have a talk with Raj or choose from their delicious menu for breakfast for lunch. You could even walk around have a look at some of the innovation that draws from indigenous practices and principles. His vision might even inspire yours...