A 501 deportee who was living in emergency housing before securing accommodation with Auckland City Mission has been learning how to turn food parcels into meals that feed his friends and whānau.

Adam, who only wanted his first name used due to privacy concerns, is amongst a group of HomeGround residents who have just completed a six-week cooking course, culminating in a Christmas lunch for the other tenants.

The Just Cook Tika Tunu programme is led by NZ Nutrition Foundation, and aims to teach residents how to use food parcels effectively, as well as improve their cooking skills, confidence and food knowledge.

Many of the ingredients in the Christmas lunch served to about 60 of the tenants on Monday were from the residents’ own rooftop garden.

Bananas, coffee, curry leaf, ginger and turmeric along with other herbs and veges grow in the outdoor beds and were harvested for the meal.

While some of the meat in the dishes, including lamb, which was roasted, along with chicken and ham, were donated.

Speaking to Stuff from the community dining room at HomeGround – Auckland City Mission’s ‘home’ for those in need, Adam said he was born in Rotorua and moved to Australia when he was 8-years-old.

After spending 43 years across the Tasman, he was deported to New Zealand under Section 501 of the Australian Migration Act.

“My past caught up with me, and I was deported,” he said.

Under the act, someone sent to jail for 12 months or longer can have their visa cancelled, and be deported to the country of their birth.

Adam said he arrived in New Zealand with nowhere to live, and was placed in emergency housing before securing a studio unit at HomeGround once it opened in 2022.

The facility includes 80 permanent apartment homes for people on the social housing register, a shared rooftop garden and residents’ lounge, a community dining room, community spaces, a health centre, a pharmacy and addiction withdrawal services.

Adam is one of 15 residents who took part in the Tika Tunu programme and said it was “important” to have the tenants come together to learn essential life skills.

“Everyone has come together to help put this event on, and it’s awesome,” he said.

“We grow a lot of our own produce in the rooftop garden and have been able to use the herbs and veges for the salads. . . I’m learning a lot of techniques and tricks and how to eat healthily.”

Learning how to cook “with what you’ve got” and making it tase good was the most important lesson learnt, Adam said.

“It’s given us all a sense of purpose and community. I still have friends who I met through the programme last year, and we connected over cooking.”

Anna Mrkusic​ NZ Nutrition Foundation programme manager, said the aim of the cooking sessions was to reach whānau who may receive food parcels and “didn’t really know what to do with them”.

“Food parcels usually contain portions of plant or animal protein, some vegetables and tinned food, and it’s supposed to be sufficient for only a limited number of days,” Mrkusic said.

“Many whānau have no experience using beans, lentils, some types of grain products and vegetables in their cooking. Even just promoting the notion of half your meal plate being vegetables is quite foreign.”

She said over the course of the programme, HomeGround tenants learnt how to use vegetables in different kinds of fritters using simple ingredients they may have in their cupboards.

“We even had a session devoted to how not to waste leftover food, and we tied it in with gifting. It was a lot of jam, chutney and spiced vegetables.

“We wrapped it up with beautiful ribbons, and it was really nice to see people just enjoying the process of being creative.”

Mrkusic said the tenants “really enjoyed” preparing the food together with some trying out the recipes learnt in the programme at home.

“But I think it’s mostly about the opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate in some way a Christmas event.”

Auckland City Mission community development lead Sam Morrison​ said the programme provided the opportunity to share skills and knowledge and to utilise the resources at HomeGround.

“The key thematic throughout our cooking journey has been about how we as a community use cooking as a way to connect, to come together, to share and to celebrate,” Morrison said.

“Our core philosophy is that we, as a community, drive how we want to be as a community. It’s about reciprocity and giving back. This is a meal that is prepared by us, for us.”