Multi-faceted approach to food affordability urged

Heart Foundation urges government to take multi-faceted approach to healthy food affordability

The Heart Foundation is disappointed a member’s bill to remove the GST from healthy food was rejected without discussion in parliament last night [Wednesday], but believes the solution to making healthy food more affordable for all New Zealanders lies in a multi-faceted approach.

Maori Party MP Rahui Katene’s bill to remove GST from healthy food was defeated in parliament at its first reading on Wednesday night.

“We are disappointed the bill, and the topic of affordable healthy food itself, did not get a chance for robust discussion,” says the Heart Foundation’s National Nutrition Advisor Delvina Gorton.

“The affordability of healthy food is a significant barrier to everyday New Zealanders eating well and it is important that we find alternative ways to address the issue,” she says.

“There are a range of other interventions that deserve serious consideration, such as a subsidy or discount card combined with community action initiatives, which could have a significant impact on the affordability of healthy food, particularly in lower income households,” she says.

The recent SHOP (Supermarket Healthy Options Project) study, suggests that removing GST from fruit and vegetables would increase consumption (a 10% increase from a 12.5% discount). “Using an electronic discount card to purchase healthy food, rather than applying a discount through the tax system, would make it easier to apply different price subsidies to different income groups,” says Delvina.

Food price has a strong influence on which foods people buy, particularly in low income households. One-third of Maori and one-half of Pacific households report experiencing some form of food insecurity.
The National Nutrition Survey 1997 and Children’s Nutrition Survey 2002 found nearly half of Pacific and 40% of Māori households with children felt stressed because of not having enough money for food.  Food insecure households tend to have lower intakes of fruit and vegetables and that participants in less food secure households had a lower intake of nutrients obtained from fruit, vegetables and dairy products, and a higher intake of fat. 

“Improving the nutrition of New Zealanders will lead to substantial health improvements and potentially reduce the growing cost of heart disease in the health system,” says Delvina.

ENDS