Aotearoa Food Cultures

How can the research be used? Ka pēhea e whai take ai te rangahau?

• Relevance and benefit to Māori interests are at the core of this work. The research will inform culturally appropriate interventions around food and diet for Māori whānau. Modelling by Healthier Lives will estimate the potential reduction in health inequities that could result from such interventions. A literature review will critically assess the deficit model of health, and consider attempts at the decolonisation of diets.
• This project will support a community health-based programme and an education-based set of programmes to promote a wider range of healthy diets that improve personal and community wellbeing, based on a better understanding of actual food behaviours and how they result from choices and contexts.
• This research will help policymakers create more culturally informed advice on healthy diets, by improving their understanding of the mosaic of food cultures in New Zealand and appropriate pathways for modifying food behaviours.
• This research will demonstrate the existence of specific types of food demand or specific consumer segments that could be supplied by the agri-food sector, creating more options for food producers.
• The ultimate goal of this work is to enable more New Zealanders to modify their food behaviours for improved wellbeing, by following healthy diet advice that is derived from their food cultures.