Food makes up 18% of Auckland’s consumption emissions and a significant percentage of our national emissions, through how it's grown, processed, transported and wasted.

Climate change increases the risk of drought, flooding, pests and extreme weather, making food more expensive and insecure, a national issue as much as a local one.

A low-carbon, climate-resilient local food system is based on a regenerative, collaborative and circular economy that:

• Involves multi-sector collaborations to restore ecosystems and support and support long-term wellbeing for all.

• Minimises or avoids synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.

• Eliminates food waste from landfills.

• Reduces transportation costs and impacts.

• Redistributes surplus food to feed people, animals and nourish soil
  

Local kai systems improve community wellbeing, build resilience, reduce emissions and create jobs. National settings, including soil and land-use protections, trade and biosecurity policy, and support for regenerative growers, shape how far local kai initiatives can go.

Want to get involved in community kai initiatives?

Check out Kai West

Central government has a key role to play in enabling food systems that are good for people, climate and place, and your local MP can raise these issues in Parliament. They can:

• Protect productive soils from urban sprawl and inappropriate land use through national planning policy.

• Fund and support home and community food growing, food rescue and composting infrastructure nationally.

• Shift government procurement to prioritise sustainable, local kai.

• Collaborate with Māori to support mahinga kai and uphold Te Tiriti obligations in food and land policy.

• Remove regulatory barriers to small-scale, local food production and trading, so councils and communities can build genuinely local food systems.

• What local food, gardening, composting or kai sovereignty initiatives have you taken part in or supported?

• How will your party fund and enable climate-resilient food systems across Aotearoa?

• How will you protect productive soils and support regenerative kai production nationally?

• What will you do to ensure local kai is accessible, affordable and the first choice for consumers?

• Will you advocate for reducing regulatory barriers to local food production and distribution?

Where to ask these questions?

Ask these questions and more, at electorate meet-the-candidates events, party policy launches and debates, or send them directly to candidates and parties via email or social media.