Vote for Kai Whakataurangi / pledge
Vote for Kai Manifesto
A call for a just, resilient food system for Aotearoa.
1. Put all who live in Aotearoa New Zealand First in Food Decisions
Ground all food system governance in Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Place the food needs 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.
Investigate how we ensure all in Aotearoa New Zealand have access to affordable nutritious kai across the whole food supply chain.
2. Connect Food, Farming and the Environment
Recognise the tikanga-based relationship of respect and reciprocity between people and our taiao, as the foundation for how we set and uphold welfare standards.
Create pathways for adaptation to ensure everyone carries the climate risk felt by the whole of our food system.
Create long term funding for extension programmes & researchthat support the transition to 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 Food Economies
Uphold Tangata Whenua kai sovereignty and mana motuhake.
Support the development of a public procurement framework (e.g. food in schools and hospitals) that prioritises local economies, sustainable production and human health, with local communities having the first option of delivering services.
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, protection , hunting, gathering, cooking, and nutrition - from early childhood to high 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 healthy school lunch programme that upholds the health and wellbeing of all tamariki and that local communities are resourced to provide
Create healthy food environments - less fast food and more good food where people live
Protect children from harmful food marketing
5. Celebrate Food Culture
Recognise and protect the ability for tangata whenua to feed themselves and manuhiri from their own whenua and moana as protected under Te Tiriti O Waitangi
Support hospitality and food businesses ensuring food safety requirements are fit for purpose and local infrastructure is supported to upscale to accommodate local needs.
Ensure food safety regulation is fit for purpose for small scale growers and producers, with compliance burden proportional to scale.
Champion food tourism grounded in Hua Parakore, organic and regenerative, culturally appropriate values where the relationship between people, whenua, moana and animals is visible in what is served, and how.
Recognise the opportunity to tell our Aotearoa New Zealand food story through regional and national events.
6. Ensure a Food Secure Aotearoa New Zealand
Ensure everyone has a liveable income and can afford healthy food, starting with increasing MSD hardship grant rates for food and adjusting annually.
Ensure adequate, multi-year funding through MSD's Food Secure Communities programme for the community food sector to support whānau with sufficient food.
Expand the Community Food Initiatives Fund to support food security projects.
Continue to invest in initiatives that strengthen long-term food security through partnering with rūnanga, hapū, iwi, marae, whānau, and communities.
Encourage long term local food security plans as part of council long term plans, with iwi partners.
Read more about the Background of the Whakataurangi/Pledge here.
Background on whakataurangi / pledge
Background
Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Te Tiriti obligations here include recognition of tino rangatiratanga over taonga including kai, and of iwi and hapū authority over the whenua, moana and takutai. We acknowledge that the mechanisms proposed are mainly Crown mechanisms, so a Tiriti-honouring approach would give Māori genuine decision-making authority within those structures.
Kai Motuhake
While this document largely speaks for the people in Aotearoa who access kai through commercial or market-based systems, we 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, and growing kai outside commercial channels. These kai systems have sustained Māori for hundreds of years, remain living and active today. Māori kai sovereignty already exists, and the inherent practices and mātauranga provided resilience and sustainability that remains an aspiration today. What is needed now is the conditions to reclaim and exercise kai motuhake, as guaranteed under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Further, we acknowledge customary food practices and the rights and knowledge systems that underpin them, including the role of rāhui and kaitiakitanga in managing taonga like mātaitai sustainably across generations. It also carries a fundamental challenge to the commodification of kai.
Return to the full Whakataurangi/Pledge here.