Kumara or sweet potato originally comes from South America, but how did it become one of the national foods of Aotearoa New Zealand? The Polynesians that first settled New Zealand around 1300 were thought to just be hunter-gatherers and only later turn to farming. But archaeologists have used new research technology to prove the Maori arrived with plans and sophisticated techniques for growing kumara, and even started off in the cooler climate of the South Island.
- Guest: Professor Ian Barber from the University of Otago led research that used granules of kumara starch to establish the date and place kumara was first grown by Maori in New Zealand
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