Polynator Kaiways at Mana Festival 2023!

30 November 2023

Mana Festival showcase held at Papatoetoe Food Hub and hosted by champions the Kai Innovators, who are working hard to re-imagine and innovate the way we see kai in a local eco-system. 

We took this opportunity to showcase Kat’s PVA Polynator Kaiways project which will see the return of a spray-free Manukau, creating a safe home for our royal pollinators. Kat surprised us all with the fact that bats and the pesky fly are a couple of our most productive pollinators. We found out that without those ‘pesky’ flies, there’s no avocados.. Kat was right in her element, this showcase really shined the light on why pollinators are so crucial and how growing colourful spaces for them and helping to provide them what they need: shelter, water, kai; we can help them to flourish. 

In the long run the goal of PK is see a spray-free Manukau to have spaces all around Auckland, starting in community gardens and stretching out to schools where there is an abundance of green space with so much potential for utilisation. The audience Kat would have liked to see at this showcase were the school caretakers, school Board of Trustees and school Principals - recognising that without these key players it would be a challenge to establish PK in schools long term.

Not a bad first showcase at the Mana Festival! Lots of learnings for both Kat and the crowd. We are looking forward to the next Mana Festival Kai Innovators showcase which will be in June.

If you’d like to know more about this project or are keen to attend the next, contact us.

What an amazing turnout this was to see our Kai Innovators with their clever and crafty prototype models. Meitaki to the organisers Kai innovators!!

- Ana Ung