{"id":67237,"date":"2023-07-17T13:50:34","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T01:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/?p=67237"},"modified":"2023-07-19T11:54:31","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T23:54:31","slug":"science-leaders-call-for-national-food-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/news\/science-leaders-call-for-national-food-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Science leaders call for National Food Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

The directors of six National Science Challenges <\/a>have called on the government to develop a National Food Strategy for New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFood is essential to our health and wellbeing but it can be a major cause of ill-health and disease,\u201d said Professor Sir Jim Mann, director of the Healthier Lives challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe food we produce also has profound effects on the environment and on climate change, and is vitally important to our economy. A healthy and environmentally sustainable food supply is essential for human and planetary health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the National Science Challenges enter their final year, the six science leaders declared their intention to bring key findings from their research together to support a future National Food Strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A strategic, science-informed plan is needed to both reduce food production\u2019s contribution to climate change, and adapt to future challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLand-use change in Aotearoa is unavoidable under a changing climate and in response to policy for freshwater protection. It makes sense to take a strategic, planned approach to redesign future food production in New Zealand in a way that has significant co-benefits for our people and our environment,\u201d said Dr Jenny Webster-Brown, director of Our Land and Water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to prioritise the wellbeing of our people, including our farmers, and our whenua and wai, above international markets,\u201d Webster-Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research by Healthier Lives has shown that adopting a healthier diet can save lives and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Research by Our Land and Water has shown that it\u2019s possible to change land use to produce the food needed for this healthier diet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA National Food Strategy should also recognise that food is a basic human right. We have too many people who don\u2019t have enough nutritious food,\u201d said Professor Cliona Ni Mhurchu, deputy director of Healthier Lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the moment we have school lunches going into some schools, and that\u2019s a great initiative \u2013 but who\u2019s looking at why our elderly are hungry? There needs to be a much wider perspective,\u201d Joanne Todd, director of the High-Value Nutrition challenge, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The science leaders point to the decline of NZ\u2019s scallop fisheries as an example of the need for an integrated, mountains-to-sea approach. Erosion from land-based agriculture affects shellfish species, but land management regulations and climate change policy are currently disconnected from this impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSediments from forestry and agriculture are not great for scallops, which are filter feeders, and there\u2019s also pressure from fishing, both commercial and recreational,\u201d said Dr Julie Hall, director of Sustainable Seas. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to change land practices, as well as fishing practices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change policy can also be disconnected from its wider food system impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA strategic approach would help policies work together. For example, the forests we establish to fight climate change should complement our sustainable food systems, not destroy them,\u201d said Dr Phil Wiles, director of the Deep South challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The directors agreed that a National Food Strategy can offer clarity on NZ\u2019s goals as a food producer and guardian of its population. As such, it should be co-designed by community, industry and government, and supported by science and m\u0101tauranga M\u0101ori. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe lesson we can learn from some of the overseas food strategies is that we need to take everyone with us,\u201d Webster-Brown said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA food strategy can help us set the national priorities together: what do we really care about as a country \u2013 for nutrition, environment, equality, and climate resilience?\u201d Wiles said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFood covers so much of what we do \u2013 our health, our economy, our environment,\u201d said Todd. \u201cA food strategy needs to be pan-government and inform all our legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFood crosses a huge amount of our legislation, but these laws are not connected at present. If they were, we could encourage activities that are sustainable, resilient to climate change, minimise waste, and have positive impacts on society and culture,\u201d Hall said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Science Challenges were established to build bodies of knowledge in areas of science considered critical to the future of NZ. The six directors represent research across a broad range of food system issues, including improving nutrition and equitably reducing diet-related diseases, adapting food production to climate change, reducing food-access inequality and reducing the impact of food production on land and at sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This cross-National Science Challenge initiative is an outcome of the Feeding Aotearoa panel discussion at the recent NZ International Science Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith many wh\u0101nau struggling to access food, Matariki \u2013 a time of year intimately connected to food <\/strong><\/a>\u2013 seems the perfect moment to commit to the development of a National Food Strategy for Aotearoa New Zealand,\u201d said Ruth Berry, co-director, Building Better Towns, Homes and Cities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Six directors will pool National Science Challenges findings to add to pot.\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":67239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[50,57,156],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t