Aotearoa, land of the long wide bare cupboard: Food insecurity in New Zealand (2019-2020)

Aotearoa, land of the long wide bare cupboard

Background 

In 2019/20 CPAG ran a campaign highlighting the challenges faced by children living in food-insecure households. Food insecurity occurs when people do not have consistent access to enough, appropriate food and has a myriad of negative consequences.  

In 2020 the Auckland City Mission estimated that at least 500,000 people experienced food insecurity on a regular basis in Aotearoa New Zealand - around 10% of the country’s population. In 2021, the Child Poverty Related Indicators report found that one in every five children lived in households without access to enough appropriate food. 

When the campaign launched, CPAG’s Executive Officer Georgie Craw said “Imagine a future where all children have access to healthy and nourishing food. Imagine all politicians being committed to ending unnecessary hunger in New Zealand. Currently, although families are trying their best, many are so under-resourced they can’t provide their kids with the food they need. Parents - particularly mothers - often skip meals to make sure their children get enough. They need more support than they are currently getting.” 

On this page, you can read papers written by academics and community leaders, and view the press coverage CPAG received.  


Papers

Part 1: Fat, famished or starved in a land of plenty? (PDF), by Professor Elaine Rush 

In this paper, Professor Rush explains what food poverty is, how many children are affected, and some of the negative consequences. Professor Rush puts forth some potential solutions and proposes a national strategy to address access and supply. 

Part 2: Living with hunger: How families manage when things are tight (PDF), by Dr Rebekah Graham 

In this paper Dr Graham details some of the realities and responses to hunger faced by everyday New Zealanders doing their best to get by on insufficient incomes. It includes quotes from interviews conducted with people experiencing food insecurity in Hamilton and greater Waikato region. 

Part 3: Children’s experience of food insecurity in New Zealand (PDF), by Dr Sarah Gerritsen 

In this paper Dr Gerristen uses research conducted by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner to describe what it is like for children in New Zealand who grow up in food-insecure households. 

Part 4: Food insecurity and Māori: research, rhetoric, racism and rights (PDF), by Christina McKerchar              

In this paper Christina McKerchar focuses on the high rates of Māori food insecurity and argues that several different strategies must be implemented to address the impact of food insecurity for Māori children. 

Part 5: Food Insecurity among Young People in New Zealand (PDF) by Associate Professor Jennifer Utter                                                

In this paper Associate Professor Utter focuses on how food insecurity affects the health and wellbeing of young people in New Zealand and shows how having easy access to an adequate supply of nutritious foods is critical to the healthy development of our children and adolescents. 

Part 6: An outbreak of hunger: the spread of food insecurity in a time of Covid-19 (PDF), by Caitlin Neuwelt-Kearns

In this paper Caitlin Neuwelt-Kearns focuses on the challenges that New Zealanders faced – and continue to face – to provide enough, appropriate food to feed themselves and their families because of the Covid-19 crisis. 

Part 7: We can build the Zero Hunger Generation in our new COVID-19 World (PDF), by Becky Little and Laurie Wharemate-Keung

In this paper the authors discuss the implementation of the Free and Healthy School Lunch Program. They argue that it must be implemented in the right way to crate the foundation for the Zero Hunger Generation.  


Selected media coverage  

11 November 2019, The Big Q (Auckland University), How bad is food poverty in New Zealand? 

17 November 2019, NZ Herald, Niki Bezzant: We owe our kids better nutrition 

19 June 2020, 95bFM, Food Insecurity with Elaine Rush 

20 September 2020, Newshub, New Zealand’s children neglected by system by going to pre-school hungry – education neuroscientist  


Campaign Items

COVID-19 Crisis Leading to Potential Hunger Crisis

Child Poverty Action Group is releasing research today showing that families' most basic need - of having access to good food - continues to be ...

Aotearoa, Land of the Long Wide Bare Cupboard: Food Insecurity in New Zealand

Child Poverty Action Group has launched a series of papers to highlight the problems children face living in food insecure households.

Lunches in Schools a Win for Children but Burden of Poverty Still Looms

The barriers to child and youth wellbeing that have been identified will be only able to be comprehensively tackled if the Government has a strong, ...

Half of Children on Benefits Are Food Insecure, and Need Urgent Support Increases, says CPAG

The number of children living in households regularly going without sufficient healthy food is unacceptable, especially when healthy food is ...

CPAG Welcomes Ministry of Health Focus on Food Insecurity

“The mental health impacts of poor nutrition in a child's early years as well as poor nutrition among pregnant mothers can be enormous.”

CPM 2018: Inadequate Incomes and High Cost Housing to Blame for Rise in Food Poverty

Report finds that one in five children under the age of 15 (161,000 and 188,000 children) experience moderate-to-severe food insecurity.

Increased Hunger in the Land of Plenty Could Be Easily Solved

Families going without food on a regular basis is dangerously on the verge of becoming normal in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

Support for Eat Right, Be Bright Campaign for Universal School Lunches

A nutritious lunch for every child would go a long way toward ensuring that all children have the same chance for good educational outcomes, and ...