Open Letter
Vote for Kai Manifesto
We’re Food Producing Champions.
We should be able to feed our own people.
An Open Letter to All Political Parties in Aotearoa New Zealand
From organisations and people who believe that no matter who you are or where you are from, everyone across Aotearoa New Zealand deserves the right to have access to nutritious food, which reflects our preferences and gives us agency in the design of the system that creates and distributes it.
We are known for agricultural exports and food production. No one should be going hungry, yet 1 in 3 of us can’t afford to put food on the table every day.
We’re Food Producing Champions.
We Should Be Able to Feed Our Own People.
Too many children go to school hungry.
Too many people are skipping meals because the money runs out before the week does.
Too many of us are making tough choices between nutritious food, rent, power, health care, fuel and other essentials.
As a nation, we’ve never been short of ingenuity when something needs fixing. Our food system needs redesigning, and we all need to work together to find the solutions. We need a commitment to a long term plan to deal with the underlying causes of food insecurity, rather than just muddling along with an increasing amount of hungry families needing foodbanks.
We are everyday people: iwi, hapū, whānau members, mums and dads, aunties and uncles, farmers, fishers and food producers, health workers, community groups, educators, businesses, organisations, and eaters from right across the motu.
We collectively agree food is not getting the serious political attention it deserves, and know that needs to change. We can do better.
We are calling on all political parties to make a genuine commitment to a food system that works for everyone. We want to see this before the election so we can support those with the best solutions.
Specifically, we want to see:
• A long-term plan.
• Affordable, healthy kai for everyone.
• Farming, fishing and food that looks after animals, the land and ocean.
• A fair go for local producers, manufacturers and food businesses.
• Good food environments for our tamariki / children.
• A food system grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• Communities having a decision-making role in their kai / food system.
• Celebration and protection of our food cultures.
We believe Aotearoa New Zealand can become a place where everyone has access to good food, where local kai systems thrive, food producers are valued, communities are resourced and exports are a vital part of our economy.
We’re not asking political parties to agree on everything but access to kai is fundamental.
So to every political party wanting our vote this election: tell us what you’ll do for food.
Because we’re voting for kai.
To add your name or organisation to this open letter visit it here.
Find more details on our call here.
Vote for Kai Call - Toiora Whakapūmau Kai
Vote for Kai Manifesto
A call for a just, resilient food system for Aotearoa.
Toiora Whakapūmau Kai speaks to the enduring wellbeing of kai: the conditions that allow whenua, wai, kai, whānau, communities and future generations to flourish. It names a shared kawenga to uphold kai systems that nourish people, protect the taiao, honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and sustain the oranga of mokopuna.
1. Put all who live in Aotearoa New Zealand First in Food Decisions - centering te tiriti, people & communities
Ground all food system governance in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, including meaningful decision-making authority for tangata whenua.
Place the nourishment, dignity and wellbeing of all who live in Aotearoa New Zealand at the centre of our food system.
Cross-party action on food security that persists beyond election cycles.
Give communities a real voice in food system decisions - to inform cross-party decision making.
Create cross-ministry teams working on food that report to a Minister of Food or commissioner for food.
Ensure all in Aotearoa New Zealand have access to affordable nutritious kai across the whole food supply chain.
2. Connect kai/Food, Farming & te taiao/the Environment
Recognise tikanga-based relationships of respect, reciprocity & kawenga between people, kai, animals and our taiao - the foundation for how we set and uphold welfare standards.
Create pathways for climate adaptation so risks and responsibilites are fairly shared across the food system.
Fund extension programmes & research that support Hua Parakore, organic, regenerative and non-GMO producers to collaborate & grow supply across Aotearoa.
Stop food from going to landfill by investing in decentralised infrastructure, from food rescue to community composting.
Ensure animals have a good life by steady, meaningful improvement in animal welfare standards.
3. Grow Strong Regional kai/Food Economies
Uphold Tangata Whenua kai sovereignty and mana motuhake.
Support public procurement frameworks (e.g. food in schools and hospitals) that prioritises local economies, sustainable production and human health.
Level food safety rules, processes & communication so small and medium producers can thrive alongside larger corporate interests.
Create a freight equalisation scheme for essential food, including grains, across Aotearoa waterways.
4. Invest in Health, Not Just Healthcare - he kai he rongoā, he rongoā he kai
Teach and resource mahinga kai practices - food growing, harvesting, hunting, gathering, cooking, preserving, sharing and nutrition - from early childhood to secondary school, as determined by each place.
Recognise that producers are addressing preventative health issues through access to fresh fruit and vegetables.
Protect and expand a nourishing school lunch programme that upholds the mana, health and wellbeing of all tamariki and that works with local community.
Create healthy food environments - less fast food and more good food where people live, learn, work and gather.
Protect children from harmful food marketing.
5. Celebrate & protect our kai/Food Cultures
Recognise and protect the right of tangata whenua to feed themselves and manuhiri from their own whenua and moana as protected under Te Tiriti O Waitangi.
Recognise the importance of hospitality and food businesses ensuring all regulations are fit for purpose, so they can thrive.
Ensure food safety regulations are proportionate to scale, so small-scale growers and producers can operate safely and sustainably.
Champion kai/food tourism which centres values including the relationship between people, whenua, moana, kai and animals. This should be grounded in Hua Parakore, organic, regenerative or other culturally appropriate values.
Tell the kai stories of Aotearoa through regional and nationals events, grounded in place, whakapapa, culture and community.
6. Ensure a Food Secure Aotearoa New Zealand - kai security for all
Ensure everyone has a liveable income and can afford healthy food, starting with increasing MSD hardship grant rates for food and adjusting annually.
Provide adequate, multi-year funding through MSD's Food Secure Communities programme for the community food sector to support whānau with sufficient kai/food.
Expand the Community Food Initiatives Fund to support food security projects.
Continue to invest in initiatives that strengthen long-term food security through genuine partnership with rūnanga, hapū, iwi, marae, whānau, and communities.
Embed local food security plans as part of council long term plans, with iwi partners and local communities.
Read more about the Background of the Toiora Whakapūmau Kai here.
Background on Vote for kai / Toiora Whakapūmau Kai
Background
Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Te Tiriti obligations include recognition of tino rangatiratanga over taonga, including kai, and of iwi and hapū authority over the whenua, moana and takutai. Many of the actions in this document focus on Crown mechanisms. A Tiriti-honouring approach requires more than consultation, it requires genuine Māori decision-making authority within any food system governance.
Kai Motuhake
While this document largely speaks for the people in Aotearoa who access kai through commercial or market-based systems, we also acknowledge that many whānau, hapū, and communities, both Maori and Tāngata o Te Tiriti continue to meet some or most of their kai needs through hunting, gathering, fishing, growing kai and other customary and community-based initiatives outside commercial channels.
Māori kai sovereignty already exists. These living systems have sustained Māori for hundreds of years, and continue to carry mātauranga, resilience and sustainability. What is needed now are the conditions to protect, reclaim and exercise kai motuhake, as guaranteed under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Customary kai practices including the role of rāhui and kaitiakitanga carry rights, responsibilities, and knowledge systems, for managing taonga like mātaitai sustainably across generations.
Kai Motuhake also carries a fundamental challenge to the commodification of kai by affirming kai as relationship, whakapapa, nourishment and kawenga..
Selected kupu Māori are used in this document as kaupapa anchors. A full Te Reo Māori translation and review should be undertaken by a licensed translator so that a full version in both reo stand with integrity and mana.
Return to the full Vote for Kai - Toiora Whakapūmau Kai here.