Food Insecurity and Sustainability: New Zealand

When I first began thinking about food insecurity in relationship to New Zealand, I figured this would not be a severe problem since New Zealand is a pretty wealthy country that values the health of their citizens. After conducting some research, I was surprised to see that that was not the case. According to the New Zealand's Qualifications Authority which is an organization that deals with all aspects related to education, they find that 40% of households in New Zealand are NOT food secure. I believe that New Zealanders are surprisingly not considered to be food secure since many New Zealanders live in cities where food prices are very high. About 1 in 5 households with children do not have enough food. This causes detrimental affects on the success of children in school as stated by the NZQA. New Zealanders are resorting to fast food and other easy ways of getting food as prices of fresh produce and petrol have gone up. New Zealanders are working long days and still can't make ends meet. According to a New Zealand paper, the cost of living and fuel are rising forcing many families to struggle to make ends meet. The issue of fuel can be related to some environmental issues facing New Zealand. There also seems to be limited access to fresh foods where food banks are the only source of such nutritious food. I truly hope this issue of food insecurity is being addressed by the New Zealand government. 

Sources:

http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/qualifications-and-standards/qualifications/ncea/NCEA-subject-resources/home-economics/91301-B/91301-expB-student1-001.pdf

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/food-bank-demand-rises-in-past-two-weeks-report-says-insecurity-new-norm

http://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2011/08/12/food-insecurity-the-issues-and-the-solutions/