The Magic of the Corner: Walter Benjamin and Street Names

Food insecurity in urban New Zealand. The case of the Kopa family

“…In hoarding food in her own cupboard, Janine prioritizes the wellbeing of her daughters' at the expense of the very relational networks that enable her survival, adding an additional layer of distress to the hardships of poverty. This distress is difficult to articulate, invoked instead through practices such as hoarding and references to foods such as oranges (Regier, 2010). Janine's overarching narrative as a caregiver for her family, first to her siblings, and later, to her own children, is constantly under threat from ongoing food insecurity.…”

“…Through the process of revitalizing their shared archives of experience, the Kopa family construct a sense of belonging and being as Māori in the world (King et al, 2015). These processes are mimetic in the sense that they are predominantly unspoken and woven into everyday acts such as cooking boil-up for the family and purchasing hangi fundraiser meals (Regier, 2010). Through evoking images and producing connections that have broader socio-cultural meanings, the eating of boil-up and hangi blends doing 8 Type of sweet potato 9 Traditional Māori sourdough potato bread 10 Modern steamer, often hand-made and which cooks food in a similar manner to a traditional hangi pit.…”