The origin and movement of traditional Maori foods in New Zealand

Maori are the indigenous people in New Zealand in the South Pacific.  Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) and potato (Solanum spp.) are both traditional foods for Maori and provide the base carbohydrate content in their diet.  Both crops originate in the Andean region of the South American continent and are believed to have made their way across the ocean centuries ago as cargo with human movement, and possibly following tides and currents in the Pacific Ocean.  Of interest is their establishment in a new climate zone where new management techniques were developed by Maori to ensure their continued availability and contribution to their survival as a people.  In particular, sweetpotato is traditionally grown in subtropical climates but was adapted through storage and manipulation to seasonal production systems in a temperate and capricious climate.  These systems have been refined over the last 500 years to ensure crop success in the 21st century.