The Ministry of Health’s Public Health Advisory Committee recently released a report on ‘Rebalancing our food system’. The report examines how we produce, distribute, and consume food in New Zealand and the approach needed to ensure our food systems support the health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders.
Healthy Families NZ has been recognised as “an exemplar of how to empower communities and create system change at a local level….there is real opportunity for the government to build on the lessons learned from Healthy Families NZ” says Chairperson Kevin Hague.
Healthy Families NZ wholeheartedly supports the shared vision for a rebalanced food system. A system that fosters wellbeing, protects and restores the environment and elevates mātauranga Māori and shared learning. These learnings were evident during COVID-19, the Auckland floods and cyclone Gabrielle, where our food system became extremely vulnerable.
We believe that a thriving kai system nourishes the physical, spiritual and social expressions of the people it feeds, upholding the mana and wellbeing of our communities. A rebalanced food system is one that is sustainable, regenerative and resilient, prioritises locally grown and affordable kai and upholds mātauranga, kaitiakitanga and rangatiratanga.
Our national Kai Impact Report demonstrates how local kai initiatives are contributing to a national movement to transform how kai is understood, appreciated, grown and consumed in Aotearoa.
Communities hold the answers to re-orienting the food system. If we use what we collectively know, work together and take action locally, regionally and nationally, we have the best opportunity to rebalance the food system and make good food the reality for all of our people.
The Public Health Advisory Committee’s report on ‘Rebalancing our food system’ is one step towards creating a unified food system for Aotearoa.