enhancing food security and physical activity for maori, pacific and ...

Enhancing Food Security and Physical Activity for Māori, Pacific and Low-income Peoplesstrongly influences food choice. 3 4 Research in Australia has found that the difference infood purchasing by household income, where low-income households purchase lesshealthy diets, was related in part to concerns about food cost. 5 The findings suggestedthat concern about cost of food is one of the main factors contributing to the relationshipbetween low socio-economic status and less healthy diets.As well as the actual cost of food, the relative cost of healthy compared with less healthyfood is important. It is the greater expense of healthy food that acts as a barrier to itspurchase compared with cheaper less healthy food. There have been various estimatesof the price differential between healthy and less healthy foods. In the US, high energydensity foods have been found to be the least expensive source of energy. 6 Healthierfoods in the lowest quintile of energy density, such as fruit and vegetables, costUS$18.16 per 1,000kCal compared with US$1.76 per 1,000kCal for those in the highestquintile of energy density, such as butter or margarine, oils, chocolate, cookies andchips. Over a two-year period from 2004 to 2006, the least energy dense foodsincreased in price by 19.5 percent, whereas the high energy density foods decreased inprice by 1.8 percent. 6 Looking at the US consumer price index over a longer time periodprovides even starker comparisons. Between 1989 and 2005, the real price of fruit andvegetables rose 74.6 percent while fats and oils fell 26.5 percent and sugars and sweetsfell 33.1 percent. 7In 2007, New Zealanders spent an average 16 percent of their weekly householdexpenditure on food. 8 Since then, food prices have continued to increase. According tothe Food Price Index, food prices increased 9.5 percent from January 2008 toJanuary 2009. 9 For the year to January 2009, fruit and vegetable prices increased13.4 percent, bread increased 20.8 percent, and the price for meat/poultry/fish increased11.8 percent. This was substantially greater than the general Consumer Price Index,which rose 3.4 percent over the year to December 2008. 10 This rapid rise in food priceshas been associated with reports of increasing numbers of whānau/families seeking11 12emergency food supplies from food banks, indicating that this is contributing toworsening food security in New Zealand.The variation in price by food type seen in the US is reflected in a New Zealand study ofthe comparative cost of healthier and less healthy foods. 13 Analysis of the cost of ahealthier versus less healthy food basket found that certain food categories showedgreater variation in cost between the healthier and less healthy options, namely meatand poultry (healthier options 27 percent more expensive), butter and margarine(44 percent), and cheese (19 percent). Overall, the healthier basket cost 7 percent moreper week (excluding fruit and vegetables).The cost of healthy food is therefore an important issue for low-income households. Thischapter explores the potential role of the food industry in relation to reducing the cost ofhealthy food. Key players in the food industry in New Zealand have indicated awillingness to promote health by becoming signatories of the Food Industry Accord, andthe subsequent development of the Food Industry Group. 14 This arose from anacknowledgement that obesity is an issue in New Zealand, and the mission of the FoodIndustry Group was to encourage the creation of commercially successful products andservices that contribute to health. While the Food Industry Accord does not focus onfood security, food insecurity has been linked to obesity, and it sets a precedent for therole of the industry in an issue of public health significance.105