Who are the Eat New Zealand Kaitaki?

A collective of next generation food leaders telling the Aotearoa Food Story.

The Eat New Zealand Kaitaki are a collective of next-generation Aotearoa food storytellers.

This unique cohort represents all aspects of our food system; from food production to transformation, celebration and food experience.

They come from all across New Zealand; from Te Tai Tokerau (Northland) to Rakiura (Stewart Island).

Their stories are the embodiment of what makes New Zealand food unique.

They each have a vision for the future that speaks to a more resilient and equitable food system. They want improved outcomes for future generations and an Aotearoa Food Story where all New Zealanders can be proud of our food culture and our country.

The Eat New Zealand Kaitaki initiative was launched during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown. We wanted a way to support our young people and to emerge new food stories from a range of voices…

This collective is a safe space for fellowship, connection and community, while providing support pathways and professional development opportunities for these individuals to grow.

Throughout the year their mission is to capture a variety of food-centric content designed to be shared across their own platforms and to our audience.

We recently announced our 2022/2023 Eat New Zealand Kaitaki - a collective of 44 individuals. They join our previous two Kaitaki cohorts, bringing our total number to over 100 young people.

The cohort is led by Kate Underwood, a Kaitaki herself, she is a Freelance Food Writer and Communicator (@relishthememory) from Te Puke, who has worked alongside Angela Clifford for the last four years as the Communications Specialist for Eat New Zealand.

We are grateful to have the support of our major sponsor Our Land and Water National Science Challenge who came on board last year to help us champion and facilitate this powerful and exciting project.

Stay tuned on our socials: @eat.newzealand on Instagram & @eat.nz on Facebook, as we share more about the faces behind this epic collective.

You can also take a look at what some of our #EatNZKaitaki are sharing across social media here.