The Food Crisis: The urgent, timely documentary every Kiwi voter should watch
REVIEW: As anyone who visits the supermarket or vege store more regularly than Sam Uffindell would be acutely aware, food costs have increased significantly in recent times. Last financial year, the price of fruit and vegetables went up by 23%, while meat, poultry and fish all rose 11%, states award-winning documentary maker Bryan Bruce in his latest investigation The Food Crisis, which debuts on Sky Open tonight, Sunday at 8.30pm. Why is it in a land of plenty does food cost so much? And what can we do about it? the Scottish-born septuagenarian asks. As he warns us right at the start of his hour-long deep-dive, theres a nest of issues at play and not just the obvious, oft-cited recent factors like Covid, the war in Ukraine and the increasing effects of climate change. There are things that are more historic, systemic. Seeking out those involved in food production like South Canterbury crop farmer David Clark, Ayslesbury pig farmer Josh Hill and horticultural business LeaderBrand CEO Richard Burke, Bruce discovers the challenges facing todays primary producers. Increased compliance costs, foreign ownership of beloved Kiwi brands like Vogels and Molenberg and free-trade policies have created some bizarre situations. We now ship in commodities that we used to grow more than enough of ourselves. And although the consumer arguably has more choice than 40 years ago its a toss up between paying $9.49 for the locally sourced and manufactured bacon and $5.99 for a product that could have come from any of 12 different countries where the farmers are subsidised and dont have to meet the same ethical and other standards as New Zealands. Segueing to lamenting our over-reliance on trucks rather than boats to move produce around the country, consulting Porirua GP Bryan Betty over the rising tide of Type 2 diabetes in our populace and displaying how our average wage has most definitely not kept pace with inflation, Bruce seems more emboldened the further we get into the documentary. It makes you wonder about the timing of its release calculated, or just cheeky? perhaps too late to influence party policy, but just in time to encourage voters to ask questions and think again about who they might vote for on October 14. Not that hes playing favourites here he blames both the Labour and National governments of the 1980s and 90s for the mess were currently in. And, yes, to borrow a more than 30-year-old American political phrase, he is basically saying, its the economy, stupid. But does he offer up any solutions? Naturally. And youve probably heard a few of them already. A sugar tax, removing the GST off fruit and vegetables, going up, rather than spreading out in terms of new housing, extending the scope of lunch-in-schools programmes, reforming the supermarket industry and overhauling the countrys tax regime, so those who can afford to pay more do. All ideas that have been mooted, consulted upon and/or rejected. Bruce though, puts these all in context, providing evidence from other countries where they have been implemented. Weve become accepting of a New Zealand where the wealthier have been allowed to get wealthier, he says, querying whether we currently have an economy that is fit for purpose. Nearly all economic decisions are moral decisions. We make enough food to feed 40 million people, there is no reason at all why we should have so many lining up at foodbanks. The Food Crisis might not be as provocative and shocking as Paddy Gower lighting a spliff, but this is the documentary every New Zealand of voting age should see before making their decision in six weeks time. The Food Crisis debuts at 8.30pm tonight (Sunday) on Sky Open.