Eating NZ Grains 2022

For the last three years we’ve been working on a Local Grain Economy for Aotearoa. This is because, despite growing some of the highest quality grains, we import over 70% of our milling wheat. We could easily grow 100% of it ensuring food security at a time of global disruption.

Along the way we’d foster better connection and returns to our farmers, create better environmental outcomes including less emissions and learn more about feeding ourselves with nutrient dense food. But to do this we have to pull all parts of the grains system together to iron out the bumps; seed breeders, scientists, farmers, millers, bakers, pastry chefs and eaters. And so we did.

Tune in and become part of this movement, your daily staples never tasted so delicious! We’ll be sharing more details of the day on our social media (@eat.newzealand) but the best way to engage is to get your hands on the recordings and watch them at your own leisure.

Purchase tickets to view the full day of recordings from the Eat NZ Grains day here.

If you missed it, you can also watch the recordings of the Eat NZ Hui 2022 here.

See the session overview of topics/speakers from the Grains day here and the Hui here.

I missed the Grains Day - but I'd like to watch the recordings.

Introducing the Manaaki Loaves

The Manaaki Loaf is bread that raises the mana of everyone involved; the farmer, the baker and the eater. Some of our best bakers are starting this journey to raise awareness about the provenance of grains and the health-giving qualities of good bread.

The parameters of the Manaaki Loaf is that it’s a tin loaf which is slow-fermented and is made from NZ grown grains.

Slow fermentation is increasingly rare in bread-making these days but the pre-digestion it delivers makes it so much better for us all. The bakers involved wanted it baked in a loaf tin so it could be easily sliced by families. While being a small business is extraordinarily tough at the moment, the accessibility of good nutritious food is more important than ever, and these bakers are on a journey to work out how to make better bread more accessible.

Griffins Sampler Box Levelled Up!

We were absolutely blown away by the skill, creativity and drive of our group of 12 bakers from across the country who took up the challenge of re-creating The Great Aotearoa Sampler Box. Did you know that Griffins use New Zealand grown grain in their biscuits? As such our bakers were inspired by the originals and their task was to re-imagine them using a variety of NZ grown grains and other ingredients.

We saw the utilisation of New Zealand grown durum wheat, buckwheat, stone ground rye, whole wheat, barley and even rye flakes.

Stay tuned over on our Eat NZ socials (@eat.newzealand) to see a round up of the biscuit creations. But for now you can read more about the project, the biscuits and their bakers here.

We're proud to be working with Justin and his team at Story Bites on a short video series of these biscuits and the Manaaki loaves.

Stuff: Biscuit inspired by Fijian 'Loli'

Bertrand Jang is a baker, caker and the owner of Sweet and Me, a Pacific-inspired bakery based in Onehunga in Auckland. He was tasked with re-creating the beloved Toffee Pop and in line with a visit home to Fiji, he was inspired to create a biscuit that helped unearth a long lost Fijian sweet treat, known as Loli. Read more about his story here.

Take me to Bertrand's Biscuit Article on Stuff.co.nz

Feast Matariki 13th - 27th June

We're excited to announce the dates for Feast Matariki 2022, which sits around Matariki becoming an official public holiday on Friday 24th June.

Stay tuned next week as we present a programme of event that will be taking place throughout Aotearoa. Each designed to bring people together to celebrate our kai at this important time of year for our culture and our country.