Dr Jessica Hutchings

Dr Jessica Hutchings (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Huirapa, Gujarati) lives on a small whānau food farm in Kaitoke, North of Wellington and is Hua Parakore verified. She has been working at the crossroads of Indigenous knowledge, whānau and environmental wellbeing for the last three decades.  She has been a member of Te Waka Kai Ora - Māori Organics Network for 20 years and was involved in the development of the Hua Parakore system, the first Indigenous Validation and Verification system for Kai Atua- Pure Food. 

 She has a PhD in environmental studies and holds a range of leadership and governance roles in the Māori science and research sector and is a widely published author, including recent books, Te Mahi Oneone Hua Parakore: A Māori Soil Sovereignty and Wellbeing Handbook (Freerange Press 2020),  Te Mahi Māra Hua Parakore: A Māori Food Sovereignty Handbook (Te Tākupu, 2015) and Decolonisation in Aotearoa: Education, Research and Practice with Jenny Lee-Morgan (NZCER Press, 2016) the later both winners of the Kōrero Pono, Ngā Kupu Ora Aotearoa Book Awards.

She is currently co-leading a Marsden Funded project titled: Kai Atua: Food for Hope and Wellbeing with the intention of publishing a book at the end of the project that shines a light on diverse Māori Food Systems in Aotearoa.