Soil health and security are key components of our wellbeing. Even so, soil is faced with many environmental challenges under the current iteration of capitalism. A paradigm shift is needed to encourage care for this resource.
In Te Ao Māori, soil is taonga. It is also whanaunga - it holds ancestral connections and is the root of turangawaewae and whakapapa. It is the source of shelter, kai and manaakitanga.
Te Mahi Oneone Hua Parakore: A Māori Soil Sovereignty and Wellbeing Handbook shines a light on Māori relationships with soil, as well as the connections between soil and food security, and frames these links within the wider discourse of tino rangatiratanga from a variety of Māori perspectives.
Through a range of essays, profiles and recipes, it seeks to promote wellbeing and elevate the mana of the soil by drawing on the hua parakore Māori organics framework as a means for understanding these wide-ranging, diverse and interwoven relationships with soil.
Watch this inspiring short interview with Jessica Hutchings for an overview of the hua parakore kaupapa.
Click on the link above to go to the publisher's website and order the book.
You can read more about Jessica Hutchings' mahi, including research, books and interviews by visiting her website.
