Maori Women and Food Sovereignty
PhD candidate
Supervisors
- Dr Lynette Carter (Te Tumu School of Māori, Pacific Island and Indigenous Studies)
- Dr Miranda Mirosa (Food Science)
Project Dates
2013 - 2016
Abstract
The project Karyn is currently working on explores Māori women's role in promoting local food sovereignty within New Zealand through participatory and indigenous research methodologies. Empirical case studies from different regions, illustrate alternative, post-capitalist, indigenous paradigms that see food as more than just a commodity, and are reconnecting families and communities with the multi-dimensional nature of food. The study aims to link Māori women and contextualize their local efforts with regard to tino rangatiratanga of maara kai within the broader international food sovereignty and indigenous rights movement. It takes a comparative perspective in analyzing power and control within the modern food system, looking at how fatty and highly processed foods, such as lamb flaps, are "dumped" in the Pacific Islands, affecting local food sovereignty and impacting health and nutrition.