food security
The counterargument to everything this series has argued is real — NZ is a high-cost producer and imports reflect that. But it assumes stable shipping, stable trade, and stable geopolitics. None of those assumptions are performing well right now.
New Zealand food system
It started with one exceptional strawberry. Three months later: fragile processing capacity, hidden supply chains, and quiet resilience in NZ's food system.
New Zealand food system
New Zealanders assume the frozen vegetables in the supermarket are still mostly local and trustworthy. But as local processing disappears, that choice is quietly being made for us.
New Zealand food system
Frozen vegetable processing is shrinking in New Zealand because the whole chain is under margin pressure at once. Growers are squeezed, processors are squeezed, households are squeezed, and supermarkets still hold enormous power. Imports do not solve that. They simply mask the damage.
New Zealand food system
McCain’s Hastings closure and Wattie’s frozen vegetable retreat put at risk local processing capacity tied to roughly 86,000 tonnes of vegetables a year, enough for all five daily vegetable servings for around 589,000 people.
Ultra-processed food
A new study found ultra-processed foods rose from 8.7% of New Zealand’s food and beverage imports in 1990 to 21.8% in 2023. That is not just a diet story. It is a food-system story.
Local Food
Food Secure North Canterbury is a grounded local food resource that helps make the regional food system more visible, practical, and connected. With an interactive map, community projects, and practical programmes, it offers a useful example of local food connection in action.
![[WEBINAR] Next Gen Organic, Farming Beyond Convention](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8d/c7/8dc73d5d-0b1a-482d-8854-dc0e254fce26/content/images/size/w600/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-19-at-11.01.09---AM.png)
Organic Farming New Zealand
This webinar explored collaboration, grower pay, food access, and why the future of organic and regenerative farming in NZ may depend on reshaping the wider food system, not just expanding a niche.
New Zealand food system
The proposed Wattie’s factory closures reveal something deeper about New Zealand’s food system. From KiwiSaver investments to global food corporations, the decisions shaping where our food is made may be closer to home than we realise.
