From Whenua to Whānau: The Health and Environmental Potential of Tūpuna Inspired Eating

In Collaboration with: Erina Korohina

With support from the Pūtahi Manawa Centre of Research Excellence and the Heart Foundation NZ

Duration: 2025 - 2028

Purpose:
What we eat is important to health, with current intakes an opportunity for substantial health gain. This project will explore eating practices passed down from our tūpuna (ancestors) to consider them in the modern context to support healthy eating for Māori today. Subject to their interest, we’ll begin by working with whānau who are already involved in the Te Ara Poutama “Living Well with Heart Disease” & Wāhine Heart Health rangahau. These trusted relationships will help guide the sharing of pūrākau and knowledge about how our tūpuna grew, prepared, and shared kai. Alongside this, we’ll carry out a systematic review of Māori literature to understand traditional kai practices and values. From this knowledge, we will identify 5–8 key tūpuna-inspired ways of eating to investigate with systematic reviews and dose response meta analyses. For example, we might look at how eating fermented vegetables—common in traditional diets—affects cardiovascular and cancer risk. Using Aotearoa-specific modelling, we will then explore what would happen if Māori returned to these traditional intakes. Modelling outcomes will be health improvements, grocery costs, healthcare savings, and environmental benefits. Using this knowledge we will work alongside Māori artists and communities to create educational resources about tūpuna ways of eating. Messaging includes information on what types of food to eat more of, traditional ways of growing and harvesting kai, and guidance for wāhine, such as kai during ikura or hapūtanga. These resources will be tested and refined with perspectives from whānau and health professionals before being disseminated widely.