Impact of Availability, Accessibility or Economic Viability on Taewa

Consumption

Group participants were asked to suggest reasons as to why people are not eating Taewa, or are discouraged from eating Taewa. The following headings depict some of the themes that arose from this discussion.

3.4.4.3.a. Barriers Due to Limited Availability or Accessibility

Some participants’ comments suggested that they are unable to access Taewa due to lack of awareness of where to purchase them, limited season availability and limited supply.

“Oh very on and off occasions, I've seen them”.

“... Probably from about March until July-August, but yeah patchy (Taewa availability season)”.

“If they were available all year around and you could get them in the supermarket, I’d go for them more”.

“The biggest barrier is just supply. You can't find them when you want them. You want them like when you've got visitors or a 21st but you can't find them ... In some areas there are more people growing them. You've just got to know someone. It’s just that availability thing. Te Kuiti ... sell them at the supermarket, but not here. (They sell Taewa) … at the flea market though”.

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“I do want try other things with it (Taewa), but whenever I try to go to the flea market now, it's not there”.

“I was really delighted when you mentioned about the Māori potatoes ... I'd been looking

for them (Taewa) for a long time because she (the mother) had a little patch of her own but when she passed away, I don’t know what happened to them. Cos when we went back, they were all dug up and gone and so I've never seen any since until ... about a month ago with one of the girls ... at work ... brought some and she had them in a boil up but she didn't want to share the seeds so I thought 'Wow, I've never seen those for so many years'. Trying to find them was a mission so it was really good when you said that you had some that I could get”.

(Group Discussions, 2010)

3.4.4.3.b. Barriers Relating to Economic Viability (Loss of Land or Cultivation Knowledge / Production Costs)

Other participants’ comments suggested that a lack or loss of land, cultivation knowledge or production costs related to growing Taewa was a barrier to being able to access Taewa.

“I would grow more of them too if they were more readily available. I just like trying different things and so I’d be interested in growing different types if I had more space”. “I'd grow much more than what I've got, but I can only grow what space I've got ... Don't

really see much Māori potato on the marae anymore. No-one's growing. We still have

gardens now but generally it’s not done as much as it used to be done. Gardens used to be full, everybody had a garden and they were always full”.

“Cos I know up the coast there's lots of cost in terms of selling it (Taewa). I think it's getting it to Gisborne, they don't really do it and then cos the growers list is small ... it's not on a large scale and expensive. So I think the only place where it's been really successful is when like restaurant franchises buy them in bulk”.

“I don’t know any one of my cousins that grow the potatoes. Everybody had a garden in our village but not many are gardening these days including potatoes ... I grow them but I'm limited on how much space I've got”.

“Barrier to growing Taewa would include their lower yield compared to the Pakeha spuds”.

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“But that means it's not really available for the everyday person ... Yeah, cos when the ones are available for the everyday person, it's expensive ... But I know that's just got to do with our growing costs. Anything in Ruatoria is so much more expensive because the closest town is Gisborne. That's like two hours. There's the petrol and that sort of thing”. (Group Discussions, 2010)

3.4.4.3.c. Barriers Due to Unfamiliarity / Differences in Taewa Compared to Modern Potatoes

Other suggested barriers to eating Taewa related to the unfamiliarity or difference in characteristics of Taewa compared to the more commonly available modern varieties.

“I think if there’s a barrier for people it's because (Taewa are) unfamiliar. So if it's more familiar and people are in the shops actually baking and cooking them and giving them a chance to try it out, then they could try it out without buying it and not knowing how to use it best. Then maybe ... showing different ways of using them and cooking them ... show them they (the Taewa) are just as useful and just as tasty as any other potato ... The kids don't really like the skins on so they’ll peel it all off. And there are some that have quite a strong flavour with some of these Taewa so I do take off the skins sometimes”.

“Some may want to peel them and modern ones are easy to peel ... Trying to work with the different shapes (of Taewa) might be an aspect (a barrier)”.

“They’re a bit tricky to clean aye ... The skin is a pain because it's so knotted and you've

gotta clean it”, (Participant talking about Tūtaekuri).

“I found that the purple one was a lot stronger (in taste / flavour)”, (Participant talking

about Tūtaekuri).

(Group Discussions, 2010)