A plan exists for a fairer and healthier food system. Which party policies align best?

The 2023 Public Health Advisory Committee's Rebalancing Our Food System report outlined five key recommendations to address New Zealand's food security crisis. These recommendations were: 1) establishing a unified food system for all New Zealanders, 2) ensuring local food systems meet community needs, 3) using legislation and policies to create healthy food environments, 4) addressing food insecurity through community-level initiatives, and 5) implementing a data collection and surveillance program for the food system.

In evaluating the six parties elected to parliament in 2023 in relation to the committee's recommendations, it was found that none of the parties had a comprehensive, unified food policy. However, several parties did express positions on specific aspects of the issue.

The National Party, while part of a coalition agreement with ACT, agreed to cut funding from the Ka Ora, Ka Ako school lunch budget and proposed breaking up supermarket chains to tackle high food prices. Labour, in contrast, focused more on social protection and pledged to restore the Ka Ora, Ka Ako model and address grocery price gouging.

New Zealand First, the only party with a specific food policy, aimed to intervene in the supermarket sector to improve affordability. The Green Party presented the most detailed food policy, advocating for increased affordability of healthy foods, restricting marketing of unhealthy products, and establishing a government-owned supermarket chain.

ACT and Te Pāti Māori took positions that were mostly aligned with free market ideology, with the latter emphasizing Māori-centric food sovereignty and climate resilience.