A united voice for local food resilience in West Auckland

Joined up Kai Workshop with West Auckland Local Boards

In a milestone for local food advocacy efforts, elected members of the three western local boards joined Kai West representatives for a workshop focused on building a unified and resilient local kai system. 

The workshop was the result of years of ground work in this space for Kai West. Collective advocacy is one of its core Pou (pillars), focused on raising the voices of communities and championing locally-led solutions, to help shape policy, unlock access to funding and land, and influence decisions about how food is grown and accessed across west Auckland.

“Being part of the Kai West Advocacy Working Group is a natural extension of my mahi at Healthy Families Waitākere,” says Vinetta Plummer, Government Systems and Policy Advisor. 

“Both roles are about championing community-led solutions and advocating for systems change, ensuring that whānau and local voices are at the centre of decisions about our local food systems.”

Kai West has built strong relationships with the Henderson-Massey, Waitākere Ranges and Whau local boards over the years. Board members are invited to events, and Kai West hosts annual deputations to each board to highlight achievements and share plans and updates about the local kai system. 

This has helped position Kai West as a key connector for aligning kai-related objectives in these board areas. System-level kai actions are now included in local board plans and Kai West is included as a vehicle for actions to support building community food resilience and outcomes in the climate change plans. 

“When we stand together in collective advocacy, our voices carry the weight of whakapapa and the hopes of generations. This is more than creating impact, it’s about igniting a movement. A movement that uplifts our communities and ensures the abundance of kai nurtured in Aotearoa first sustains our own people,” says Tracey Watene, Chair of Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance and Head of Operations at Fair Food.

“In kotahitanga, our strength grows and with that strength we have the power to huria te mata o te whenua - to transform the system itself.”

The workshop was held in May 2025 and explored shared priorities and opportunities for collaboration, such as how to align food resilience with climate action goals such as soil regeneration and flood recovery and ways to strengthen local production and access to kai. 

There were also discussions about pooling resources to increase capacity for shared actions, improving collective advocacy to the central government on economic development, food system reform and land use policy and the benefits of maintaining continuous regional mapping and data sharing to inform planning and advocacy.

Kai West is laying the foundations for a regional food strategy that moves West Auckland from reactive food responses to long-term resilience. This includes deepening cultural and heritage collaborations, such as orchard mapping, food forests, markets and storytelling about kai across generations, to embed regional identity and guide future planning.

In addition to local advocacy work, Kai West is also connected to other collectives and coalitions working for systemic change right across the motu as part of its wider advocacy efforts.