Elaine Rush’s paper on New Zealand food exports and imports in relation to dietary guidelines is grounded in her growing concern over this country’s poor eating habits, something the number crunching in her work confirmed.
“It seems when I was growing up in the 50s in South Auckland butter was two shillings a pound, everyone had a veggie garden, diets were simpler but adequate and the level of malnourishment we see as obesity today, it just was not there.”
Rush’s paper has been published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
It is a world first for how it computed how many people this country feeds with its exports and compared that to how much and what type of nutrients NZ imports.
“We have heard the figure tossed around and used by Ian Proudfoot of KPMG about how NZ grows enough to feed 40 million people or exports enough to feed 35 million and how we should aim for just a small part of the diet to a larger group at a premium price.”
Grinding through Statistics NZ trade data Rush and her colleagues have calculated that number is correct, in part.
Based on 2016-18 trade data NZ generates enough export servings of dairy to feed 39 million consumers, red meat and seafood for 11.5m, fruit for 10m and vegetables for 2m.
“These figures are despite having 60% of the population not meeting fruit and vegetable 5-plus guidelines and obesity, a form of malnutrition, is 12% in children and 32% in adults.
“Yet we export $5.1 billion of fruit and vegetables a year.”
Meantime, a large portion of the country’s food imports include discretionary and nutrient-poor foods.
The largest quantities imported were of sugar and wheat, with enough grains coming in to feed 9m people. They include wheat, rice and other grains.
“Which raises the question about what happens to it given it’s enough to feed 9m. We estimate a portion of it is lost through removing the bran and germ off grain, helping it store longer but reducing its nutrient value. This itself is a concern, given NZ’s high level of bowel cancer and known low levels of fibre intake.”
Sugar appears in high volumes, which alongside wheat is imported at the equivalent of 300g a day per person.
Chocolate imports equate to three squares per person a day.
Overall, the total energy exported is enough to meet the needs of 20m and imported food energy is enough to feed 10m people.
Interestingly, given NZ aims to export high-value, healthy foods, fat forms two-thirds of the total food energy exported while carbohydrates account for-three quarters of the food imported.
The fat component lies largely in NZ’s butter exports.
Rush said the work raises issues around trade policy cutting across social policies in a country that clearly can feed its populace well, in theory.
“We have raised questions here about the need for better integration of policies regarding population well-being and the drive to export premium foods to increase national trade income.”
She maintains there are good grounds for the Government to consider a national food policy to address the imbalances in food types imported and eaten.
One plank of that could include the much debated sugar tax on soft drinks alongside greater access to fresh tap water in public places.
“Our work also showed that NZ exports equivalent of 65ml per person per day of fresh water while importing 21ml and with that all the packaging that goes with it.”
She has lobbied the Child Poverty Action group about having a national policy and reducing food insecurity that arises in poorer households leading to under-nutrition and deficiencies impeding child development.
Rush also sees wider factors feeding into the food imbalance, particularly NZ’s high cost of housing sucking money away from good food spending and a loss of the ability to grow vegetables at home.
