Pātaka Kai movement expands as food pantries inundated by hungry whānau

Wednesday, 27 November 2019

At 3pm on Tuesday, the food pantry on Manukau's Israel Ave was stocked with avocado, corned beef, mackerel, mango, fresh vegetables and Weetbix.

Later that evening most of it was gone, and by the next morning, only two bottles of oil were left.

It's the reality for every open food pantry across the country.

They were set up as a way for people to take and donate a food item or two, but a year on, people are relying on the pantries to feed their families.

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The Pātaka Kai (open food pantry) movement was started by Swanie Nelson as a way to make use of leftover kai at her local soup kitchen in Ōtara.

She found people in her street, who she knew were in need, weren't turning up.

Some of the reasons were transport in getting there, especially for large families, and being whakamā (shy), Pātaka Kai co-lead Candice Luke said.

The first pātaka popped up on Cooper Crescent in August 2018.

The movement now includes more than 100 pantries across the North Island, with the bulk being in Auckland.

And although it's grown, its core values, such as empowering communities and getting to know and help your neighbours, are still central.

'I had been following Swanie on Facebook because she's a local hero and always doing cool stuff,' Luke said. 

'There were only about two pātaka at that time and I baked a cake to say thanks and then I got roped in. 

'She has a way of making people feel valued and bringing the community together.'

The pātaka are resident-led and organically stocked, meaning people can donate what they can when they can, and they can also take what they need without prejudice.

Some people take advantage, but it's rare. And there's also now a national headquarters, Luke said.

Bulk food items are stored at Clover Community House in Manukau, which has unofficially become the 'headquarters', manager Antoinette Tiatia said 

This week, they received 17,280 tortillas and 6400 roti. 

Kaitiaki (those that look after pantries in their streets) from Māngere, Papakura, Central Auckland, Ōtara, and Waikato travelled to Manukau to collect tortillas and roti for their pantries.  

There's now a pātaka outside the community house, and when it was first established it wasn't used everyday.

A few months on, Tiatia said the pātaka is inundated as families struggle to source kai from elsewhere, including food banks and Work and Income. 

Approaching Christmas, Luke said they got plenty of donations, and in bulk.

'People take pictures of the pātaka, and they bring donations with cute bows, and it's awesome, but after Christmas it goes dead.

'From Boxing Day until March, all the places we'd usually get bulk foods from have cleared out their stock.

'If people do want to get involved with their local pātaka, I encourage them to add a couple of extra things in their shopping every week and dropping it off on their way home during that low period. 

'We all know the Christmas season is hard, and this is a great way of giving back to your community.'