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

Enhancing Food Security and Physical Activity for Māori, Pacific and Low-income PeoplesSection A: Enhancing food securityThree sections of this book are dedicated to enhancing food security. The threesections correspond to the three identified control parameters chosen by the researchteam as the food security areas of focus. These are: money available withinhouseholds to spend on food, food purchasing influences, and the cost of healthynutritious food.The money available in households to spend on food was identified as an importantfactor for food security. The money available to spend on food is determined by bothincome and household expenses. Five chapters consider intervention areas toincrease the money available in households to spend on food. The first chapter(chapter 2.1) by Des O’Dea, Delvina Gorton and Cliona Ni Mhurchu investigates theuse of food voucher systems to supplement the food purchasing power of ahousehold. Included within this chapter is also a discussion of removing Goods andServices Tax (GST) from healthy foods to reduce their cost. Removing GST wasraised under the Cost of Healthy Nutritious Food section, however, the two issues sitwell together as potential economic instruments to enhance food security. The nexttwo chapters from Des O’Dea (chapter 2.2) and Kristie Carter (chapter 2.3) focus onincome interventions for two specific groups, those on the statutory minimum wagerate, and those on income support benefits. In the fourth chapter (chapter 2.4)Tolotea Lanumata and Louise Signal consider the role of fringe credit lenders and howavailability of credit can enhance food security in the short term, but interest chargesmay reduce food security in the longer term. The fifth chapter (chapter 2.5) by MatWalton takes a different approach and looks at the provision of free food in schools.This asks if the provision of food in schools would reduce the impact of food insecurityon children, and whether this would have a positive impact on money available inhouseholds to spend on food.Food purchasing influences are commonly identified as associated with food securitystatus. Three intervention areas are considered to move food purchases towardshealthy and affordable options. The first chapter (chapter 3.1) by Delvina Gorton andCliona Ni Mhurchu considers improving the knowledge of individuals through cookingskills courses, both within schools and located in communities. The second chapterby Christina McKerchar and Craig Heta (chapter 3.2) looks at what iwi and pan tribalorganisations can do to stimulate production and provision of traditional Māori foodsources. The third chapter (chapter 3.3) by Delvina Gorton considers the experienceof community markets, gardens, transport and supermarket access issues in relationto food purchasing and food security.The third and final section on enhancing food security considers how the cost ofhealthy nutritious food impacts on food security. Interventions for reducing the cost ofhealthy food for Māori, Pacific and low-income peoples are considered. This sectionhas a lot of crossover with the second and third chapters of the food purchasinginfluences section. Delvina Gorton continues the exploration of community-basedinitiatives and considers the cost of food in addition to impacts on availability inchapter 4.1. The second chapter (chapter 4.2) by Delvina Gorton, Sharron Bowers,Louise Signal and Cliona Ni Mhurchu considers the role of the food industry in pricingof healthy nutritious food and what mechanisms may be used to reduce costs forhealthy diets. When reading this section the discussion in chapter 2.1 regarding theremoval of GST should also be kept in mind.10