Elaine Rush, Emeritus Professor of Auckland University of Technology’s Health and Nutrition Department questions whether New Zealand is doing enough to feed its local population when it is sending high quality food exports elsewhere. Mrs Rush reports that New Zealand grows enough to feed 40 million people however there is growing concern about the country’s eating habits, as most of our high quality food is sent overseas, whilst imports are largely made up of nutrient-poor foods such as sugar and wheat. The total amount imported each year in terms of energy is enough to feed 10 million people, over double our current population. Mrs Rush proposes that the Government considers a national food policy which can address imbalances in food types that are imported. Another point to note is that the country exports equivalent of 65ml per person per day of fresh water while importing 21ml, which is often packaged in plastic and has environmental consequences.

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