One year of ‘Fill the Pantry’ workshops
Over the past year Sera Schwalger has been delivering Fill the Pantry workshops with community groups across Tāmaki Makaurau. The kaupapa is about saving money, sharing resources, making most of the seasonal harvest and bringing people together. Learning how to pressure can with guidance and expertise from homesteader and canning expert Chrissy Small has been part of this series of workshops. For Sera, not being fearful of the pressure canner has been her biggest lesson as well as spending time experimenting with flavours and recipes has given her the confidence to can!
‘Fill the Pantry’ canning workshop with The Free Church of Tonga.
In the workshops canning is a long process, however it provides the opportunity for Sera to kōrero with groups about the importance of eating and cooking with seasonal produce for health and wellbeing and the taiao. Fermentation, another food preservation method was incorporated into these workshops through a collaboration with AUT Pacific Food Lab where participants learnt how to make delicious kimchi.
As canning workshops have been rolled out, there has been an evolution. Drawing from ancestral intelligence and traditions, ‘Meal in a Jar’ has come about that are simple and tasty meals that use kai and flavours that are familiar to the communities PVA connect and work with. Corn beef with taro and green bananas and curry chicken are some of the meals that have been made into ‘Meal in a Jar’ using the canning skills and knowledge acquired by Sera.
‘Meal in a Jar’
Knowing where your kai comes from and what's in it and learning from past generations where excess and waste was not prevalent like it is today, is something that a ‘Meal in Jar’ represents. Preserving our kai is a MANAVA for Climate action, it is a way that our communities can be resilient. To learn about other ways to be ready for climate change and extreme weather events visit MANAVA for Climate Resilience website.
PVA has pressure canning equipment available to loan to groups and a Facebook page has been set up for participants to keep in touch.
Special thanks to Love Food Hate Waste New Zealand and the Auckland Council community climate action team for supporting this kaupapa.