Last month, Healthy Families South Auckland attended the Health Coalition Aotearoa forum in Wellington, beginning the start of a new collaboration focused on making policy shifts to improve access to healthy kai (food) in South Auckland.

Health Coalition Aotearoa brings together over 45 organisations and stakeholders dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders, with a focus on addressing the harms caused by unhealthy food, alcohol, tobacco, and the lack of health equity.

At the forum, Healthy Families South Auckland’s Matt Appleyard and Julio Bin held discussions with health experts about transforming the local food system.

“These conversations have led to an initial scoping of what a collaborative initiative could look like in South Auckland, aimed at shifting policy to promote healthier and more affordable food options in the community,” says Healthy Families South Auckland manager Matt Appleyard.

The new initiative is building off the recently released Public Health Advisory Committee report, Rebalancing our Food System. Healthy Families South Auckland participated in the making of the report.

Recommendations from the report that will help guide the initial stages of the work include:

•  Resource and enable community leadership for local food systems including supporting:

1. community participation in local decision making, and local and national food system planning
2. local government to develop and implement local and regional food strategies in partnership with local communities and local public health services/local health authorities
3. and learning from programmes which are working to improve local food environments.

• Work with communities and hapu and iwi to support the growth and revitalisation of Indigenous Māori food systems and traditional kai knowledge and practices.

• Reviewing the Local Government Act to strengthen the ability of local government to take action to improve local food environments.

Matt Appleyard says this new relationship with Health Coalition Aotearoa provides a stronger connection between academia, healthcare experts and community champions.

Healthy Families South Auckland already has connections to several partners within Health Coalition Aotearoa and were invited to attend the forum.

“It’s about combining those who have knowledge and mana to make a significant impact on policy, resources and decision-making processes with those community leaders and groups that our kaupapa supports.”

“By working with Health Coalition Aotearoa partners, Healthy Families South Auckland aims to create lasting policy changes that support nutritious food environments. This is crucial for addressing food insecurity and the rising rates of diet-related diseases in Aotearoa, while ensuring that community wellbeing is at the heart of such initiatives.”