Covid’s Impact On Food Security Still Being Felt By Many Kiwis, Survey Finds

A new survey of 43 food charities from around the country has revealed that the demand for food support continues to skyrocket, as a result of the long-lasting impacts of Covid-19 and the ever increasing cost of living.

The New Zealand Food Network (NZFN) ran the survey to ask the food hubs it works with about their experience with food support between January and June 2022.

The results found that the top three reasons for requesting food support were low household income due to low paying jobs (79%), unemployment (70%), and Covid-19 isolation (60%).

Results also suggested that the pandemic was having a serious impact on some of the more vulnerable members of society. Nearly half (49%) of the food hubs reported senior citizens living on low fixed income (such as pensions), 44% said people living with disability, sickness or injury (44%), and 37% said those who have lost employment due to Covid-19 had sought food support from them.

The survey showed that NZFN food hubs support over half a million people per month and the actual numbers are likely to be much higher. Their ability to meet the current levels of demand was 3.6/5 (1 being poor and 5 excellent), indicating a need for more donations throughout Aotearoa to cope with the increasing pressure.

People accessing the NZFN registered food hubs were mainly requesting staple food items such as meat, dairy and fresh produce which are generally the hardest to come by in food rescue.

NZFN Chief Executive Gavin Findlay said the statistics clearly show there is more work to do to ensure people’s needs are being met by food support organisations and food businesses.

“We saw unprecedented demand for food over lockdown, and with every major alert level change came surges in demand. Even though all but a few Covid-19 restrictions have now been dropped, our survey results show the extent to which they have seriously impacted Kiwis.

“This, along with rising inflation, means food insecurity is likely to get worse. Our food supply system produces thousands of tonnes of surplus/waste so we will continue to connect the dots and help our donor partners to divert more perfectly good food that would otherwise go to landfill, towards those struggling to afford the basics.”

As the pandemic worsened these problems, NZFN was born with the support of the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) which fully funds NZFN’s mission.

NZFN has now built a strong network across the food supply chain which enables it to connect food surplus and demand efficiently and at scale. This has transformed the food rescue industry.

NZFN has succeeded in getting large volumes of surplus food, much of which would have gone to waste, into communities in need like no other solution before. NZFN has a remit to keep closing the gap between surplus food from food businesses and communities in need.

One of NZFN’s recipient food hubs, Te Rūnunga o Te Whānau, provides food support for Te Whānau ā Apanui iwi in the eastern Bay of Plenty. Louise Schroder, Community Connector reiterates the positive impact NZFN has had in their region.

“We are very grateful for what we’ve received. We’re a remote community with high levels of poverty, co-morbidities and mortality rates, so services like NZFN are one of the many essential components in uplifting our whānau of Te Whānau ā Apanui Iwi.”

“Getting produce to our doorstep is a major issue due for freight companies - NZFN staff have been advocating for us and we appreciate their efforts. Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa.”

Abigail Packer, Chief Executive at Kai With Love, says, “Thanks to NZFN, Kai With Love are able to give an excellent variety of decent food to between 2000-3000 people across the Nelson Tasman Region, each month. We couldn't do it without them.”

Good Neighbour’s Ingrid Klein-Ovink noted that need had increased 15%-to-20% over the last 6 months in the community organisations that they help.

“Our recipient organisations are finding it really challenging to keep up with demand.”

NZFN already has the infrastructure and operational capability to offer food businesses (growers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers) the opportunity to do good with their bulk surplus, but help from the wider business sector is still needed to keep up with the increased demand.

Please consider becoming a food donor at: https://www.nzfoodnetwork.org.nz/s/sign-up-donate?language=en_US

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