Waikirikiri School wellbeing whānau worker and counsellor Tui Keenan (left) speaks to East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick and Hunting and Fishing Minister and Youth Minister James Meager about the school's Wild School Lunch programme.
Waikirikiri School wellbeing whānau worker and counsellor Tui Keenan (left) speaks to East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick and Hunting and Fishing Minister and Youth Minister James Meager about the school's Wild School Lunch programme.
They do things differently at Waikirikiri School.
Hunting and Fishing Minister and Youth Minister James Meager found Te Kura Reo o Waikirikiri an appropriate place to visit, considering his combination of portfolios.
The minister will not walk into many schools and see students and tutors “boning out” a yearling deerto be eaten later by the students as part of the Wild School Lunch programme, where wellbeing whānau worker and school counsellor Tui Keenan plays a crucial role.
Meager was accompanied by East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick.
The deer are shot on the East Coast by local whānau and rangatahi learning under the guidance of Keenan, while local women strip and break down the animals at Waikirikiri School.
Minister of Hunting and Fishing, and Youth James Meager watches a deer being boned by supervised Waikirikiri School students. One deer can provide between 20 and 30kg of mince to feed the school.
Te Ringamau Ritchie and Karolyn Johnson are the cooks or “aunties in the kitchen” and are popular with the students.
“You can tell the aroha for these ladies,” Keenan said.
“Venny burgers” and “Big Mac [venison] wraps” are the most popular food options.
Ham rolls and salad were on the menu for the following day.
“If they [the pupils] don’t like the food, they’ll tell us,” Johnson said.
Waikirikiri School chefs or “aunties in the kitchen" Te Ringamau Ritchie (left) and Karolyn Johnson cooked 240 "venny burgers" on the day the Gisborne Herald visited.
Keenan said the food programme had been running for five years.
The school received one or two beasts a week, depending on their size.
Keenan said 20-25kg of mince was sufficient for one meal across the school, while one deer provided 20-30kg of mince.
The boys learning to bone a deer were reviving a dying art that had been lost, she said.
“The kids are very happy with it. They’re living like their ancestors.”
“Everything I have learnt about myself in my journey of learning the art of hunting and reconnecting to the land, I am now sharing with my community. That is the real blessing.”
Kirkpatrick said there were many positives from the programme, such as people learning new skills, no waste from the animals, healthy food, a sense of achievement and good food.
It was “all-round an excellent programme”, she said.
Meager was impressed by the initiative.
The programme not only generated sustainable food, but also allowed families to develop skills such as skinning and boning, he said.
However, he said while the “mamas” and students were gaining, there was little formal recognition of their work.
“Could we use our contacts with the Game Animal Council or Fish & Game New Zealand to form some kind of certification to recognise the skills undertaken by the mums and the kids?
“They’ve gained skills. It’s something they can put on their CVs.”
Meager and Kirkpatrick also enjoyed a venny burger lunch.
“How could you go past that for a school lunch,” Kirkpatrick said.
She paid tribute to the “amazing” role played by Keenan.
