Vote for Kai – LEARN MORE

Learn more about the ideas and solutions behind Vote for Kai:

1. Prioritise all who live in Aotearoa New Zealand in Food Decisions - centering te tiriti, people & communities

Public Health Advisory Committee. 2024. Rebalancing our food system.

• A comprehensive overview of our food system and how it needs to be transformed to nurture people in the different ways that matter — as people who eat, grow, produce, or work with food. The rebalanced system needs to foster wellbeing, protect and restore the environment, and elevate mātauranga Māori and shared learning.

Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective. 2025. Kai Motuhake.

• Kai Motuhake explores how Te Ao Māori can help build a food secure Aotearoa. Acknowledging the impacts of colonisation, it promotes Te Tiriti-informed approaches to kai and highlights Indigenous-led solutions that strengthen resilience, wellbeing and equitable food systems for all.

The Salvation Army. 2025. Ending Food Insecurity: What needs to be done now.

• A report calling for a values-led approach to food security and food systems in Aotearoa that treat access to nutritious food as a fundamental right and a social investment. Argues that a new paradigm for our food system needs to be shaped ensuring that thriving local food systems exist together with the food export sector.

Emily King. 2023. Re-Food.

• A book and podcast series that examines our food system from farm to table, exploring challenges such as climate change, soil and water health, food waste, packaging, unhealthy diets, and food access. It offers practical ideas and solutions for building a healthier, fairer, and more sustainable food future.

2. Connect kai/Food, Farming & te taiao/the Environment

Storybox and Whakaata Māori +. 2024. Hua Parakore – Rebuilding our Broken food Systems.

• Dr Jessica Hutchings travels the motu meeting Hua Parakore growers in this documentary series, exploring the six kaupapa that underpin Hua Parakore— a very watchable way to understand tikanga-based relationships between people, kai, animals and te taiao.

Our Land and Water National Science Challenge. 2021. Regenerative Agriculture in Aotearoa.

• Led by scientist Dr. Gwen Grelet, this project breaks down complex agricultural science into friendly short reports and videos tracking soil health, animal welfare, and climate adaptation.

3. Grow Strong Regional kai/Food Economies

Eat New Zealand. National Food System.

• Proposes a Mana-Centred Local Food System model that emphasises the infrastructure and systems that support local producers, creating healthier, more connected and self-reliant communities across Aotearoa.

Jessica Hutchings and Jo Smith. 2025. Pātaka Kai. Growing kai sovereignty.

• This book highlights how indigenous food practices offer solutions to ecological, cultural and social crises. Featuring indigenous food heroes, it advocates for kai sovereignty, sustainability, and community well-being through holistic approaches that reconnect people, land and food.

Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective. 2023. Realising Food Secure Communities in Aotearoa.

• A report and webinar that highlights what communities across Aotearoa are doing to strengthen their food security, including identifying a shared vision for food systems that are local, affordable, connected, healthy, regenerative, and resilient.

4. Invest in Health, Not Just Healthcare - he kai he rongoā, he rongoā he kai

Public Health Communication Centre. 2026. Food Policies to support healthy and environmentally sustainable diets.

• Many New Zealanders struggle to eat a healthy diet in line with our food and nutrition guidelines. This brief explores the actions the Government could take that would have the biggest impact on improving people’s dietary intake and ultimately increase our health and wellbeing.

Public Health Communication Centre. 2024. Evidence for Free School Lunches.

• A series of three short briefings pulling together the evidence on free school lunches, including the bigger picture benefits of the programme, the impact of hunger on learning, and whether they are a good investment.

5. Celebrate & protect our kai/Food Cultures

Monique Fiso. 2020. Hiakai.

• This beautiful book celebrates kai Māori, exploring native ingredients, foraging and culinary knowledge through stories, an illustrated ingredient guide and recipes, bringing ancestral food practices to contemporary audiences.

Eat New Zealand. Eat New Zealand Instagram.

• A platform showcasing Aotearoa’s food system, through sharing stories about growers, harvesters, chefs, industry leaders and food enthusiasts. It offers diverse perspectives on the people, ideas and issues shaping New Zealand’s food culture.

6. Ensure a Food Secure Aotearoa New Zealand - kai security for all

Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective. Ka Mākona - Income Adequacy in Aotearoa New Zealand

• Food insecurity is not about whether there is enough food in Aotearoa but about whānau having enough resources to access healthy affordable kai. The series of Ka Mākona reports explores the financial pressures facing whānau, the systemic causes behind food insecurity and identifies opportunities for change so all can thrive.

Allen and Clarke. 2026. Evaluation of the Food Secure Communities programme

• This evaluation found that the Government’s Food Secure Communities programme strengthened community food distribution, emergency preparedness, and access to nutritious food support. Whānau receiving support experienced reduced stress and connections to wraparound services. However, ongoing funding is needed.

Open Letter

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

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.

Download a printable version of the Vote for Kai Call / Toiora Whakapūmau Kai here.

Background on Vote for kai / Toiora Whakapūmau Kai

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.