Photo: Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Advocacy group Eat New Zealand is calling for a more resilient food production system and a strategy for food security, given the country's exposure to natural disasters.
Growing food in places that make it easy to export, rather than with a focus on local distribution, puts New Zealand in a vulnerable position when large scale events occur, the group's chief executive, Angela Clifford says.
She says most of our trading partners have a national food strategy, and it's time New Zealand developed one.
The two major cyclones that hit Tairawhiti, Hawkes Bay and Northland earlier this year have had a devastating impact on crops of potatoes, kumara, garlic, and onions.
Eat New Zealand says food security is also at risk due to the supermarket duopoly.
The organisation wants to see a national food strategy to improve outcomes for domestic food production and to create a more resilient food system.
