A food rescue organisation is calling on political parties to commit to three policies ahead of the election that will reduce food waste and improve food security.
Despite New Zealand producing enough food for about 40 million people, food prices have continued to rise in the past year, and supply issues continue.
The Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance (AFRA) is a network of 33 local, community-focused food rescue organisations operating at 109 individual sites, which work collaboratively to tackle the cost of living and climate change.
AFRA engagement and partnerships lead Iain Lees-Galloway said 20 tonnes of food a day could end up in landfill instead of on people’s plates if the next Government did not fund food rescue.
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Food prices and supply issues have created havoc for food security – but the country has no plan.
“Politicians can’t ignore the fact that people are struggling with the cost of food right now.
“Food rescue is one important way that local communities look after each other and provide for each other. The Government helped fund that work during the Covid-19 pandemic and in the aftermath of the cyclones that battered the country earlier this year. But now they say it’s time to pull back – right when the need for food is greater than ever.”
On Tuesday morning it launched its Nourishing Aotearoa campaign, which is calling for funding and the adoption of three policies that enable local, community-based food rescue organisations to make nutritious surplus food available to people who need it and prevent that food from needlessly becoming waste.
The policies included having $12 million annually for four years dedicated to local food rescue organisations across the country, a community-led, Government-enabled food plan that ensures the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the food system and mandatory reporting of food waste across the food value chain.
A national food plan is a policy that would guide food-related decisions and actions across the country. It is an approach to understanding and addressing issues within food systems and a plan for making decisions around food. Many other countries have a plan or policy in place to manage their food.
Lees-Galloway said by keeping good, edible food from needlessly going to landfill, New Zealand’s food rescue organisations prevented more than 20,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.
A social return investment study found the combined environmental, social and economic benefits of food rescue delivered a social return on investment of $4.50 for every $1 invested.
Last week the Government announced an additional $6m for foodbanks, but Lees-Galloway said it was not enough.
“It’s not acceptable that as many as 1 million people often go hungry in a country that can feed 40 million.
“Food rescue organisations are working hard to stop that happening. All they ask is that our Government, no matter which parties lead it, works alongside them to do the same.”
