response, recovery and realising a food secure aotearoa
Government resourcing beyond June 2023 and recent weather anomalies, and how we all chip in:
Meeting the increased demand of those experiencing food insecurity
Crisis response from government
Growing food security
Mā whero, mā pango ka oti ai te mahi.
With red and black the work will be complete.
This is a pivotal yet imaginative moment for Aotearoa, as we move from an immediate crisis response in the wake of the pandemic and natural disasters towards longer term recovery – there is the prospect of realising something better.
This whakatauki talks directly to collaboration, acknowledging the need for government, industry and community to work together. When there is unity through difficulty, we can accomplish what is needed – more so by the energetic qualities and virtues of that collective effort than of any social or governing hierarchy.
With red AND black, the work can be done…
We know that with each crisis, demand for food assistance increases, never returning to previous distribution levels. So while some around the motu collaborate and develop their local food security plans, and as government resourcing shifts, how might we move forward, collaboratively, to realise a food secure Aotearoa without leaving anyone behind?
Meeting the increased demand of those experiencing food insecurity
ongoing increased demand
Just 10 days into the first March 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, many foodbanks and community food distributors found themselves under enormous pressure as demand for food assistance soared. All around Aotearoa foodbanks and Mārae reported increasing need for food assistance and by the beginning of April food parcel distribution catapulted. Some foodbanks reported up to a 400% increase in the volume of kai distributed as staffing and volunteer numbers dwindled, and all while community food distributors navigated extraordinary added changes to how they could safely operate.
Nathan May, General Manager of Community Services from VisionWest Waka Whakakitenga community trust, one of the many organisations who responded to need during the pandemic, said the sharp increase in food assistance showed the ever-growing hardships in our communities and how vulnerable many are, or could easily become.
"We had to change our way of interacting with people to non-contact, delivering straight to doorsteps. We redeployed our staff from other services to help meet the need. Prior to the first lockdown our weekly food parcel distribution was about 120 food parcels per week. At the peak of the 2021 lockdown we were distributing 1,100 food parcels each week. We are now distributing 460, which is 283% above what we were at the beginning of 2020."
While food parcels do offer much needed temporary support, and are an appropriate welfare response from government to crisis moments, we must also grapple with intentionally moving towards sustainable food security solutions.
crisis response from government
How do we resource foodbanks and community food organisations?
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, foodbanks throughout Aotearoa were resourced through a variety of channels including all or a mix of donations, fundraising efforts, philanthropic support and local council service contracts.
Then at the end of March 2020 Aotearoa moved into a COVID-19 Alert Level 4 and the entire nation went into self-isolation as a State of National Emergency was declared. Thrust into an unprecedented scenario without sufficient infrastructure, MSD began providing access to COVID recovery funding to ensure community food distributers, mārae, and food rescue could meet the additional food demand. Significant additional funding was then made available to navigate self-isolation during the 2021 Omicron breakout.
While food parcels do offer temporary support, and there is ongoing food parcelling resourcing through the Care in Communities welfare response, that process no longer has contestable funding to apply to. MSD has established existing challenges for funding food parcels and is shifting resourcing towards ‘food security’ through the Puta Ora funding initiative. This means, across community and industry we must also move away from temporary responses to sustainable food security solutions too.
growing food security
Where to from 30 June 2023?
Purposely moving from ‘response’ towards ‘recovery’ mode gives us (and especially government) opportunities to begin intentionally shifting parts of our food systems – particularly during this general election year.
Within the context of Aotearoa, the complexity of creating food security is not just about feeding people through food relief. We have an abundance of kai hence it is a matter of ‘access’ rather than scarcity of food or individual behaviours.
So when we think about realising a food secure Aotearoa, keeping in mind the potential for further shocks and funding changes – what roles should government, industry and community each have and how might we all chip in?
Mā whero, mā pango ka oti ai te mahi.
With red and black the work will be complete.