The systems that bring food from production to the plate are responsible for nearly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, significant biodiversity losses and global land and water degradation — with clear impacts upon human health. Waste is a key stage in...
Opinion
Every week The Feed interviews the movers, the shakers and the makers in the New Zealand food industry. Check out the interviews on The Feed Weekly podcast or in a Q&A format below. And if you’ve got a story to tell or an opinion to share, drop us a line at editor@thefeed.co.nz
What’s going on in Aotearoa? From wine and beer festivals to the boffins at AUT: here are some of the most exciting events from around the motu…
The pale winter sun is beginning to thaw the layer of icy mud and silt that has collected over the hatch leading to The Feed's underground bunker, so there's no longer any way of avoiding it: we're going to have to go Outside. We know, we know, Outside doesn't like...
Tastes from our past can spark memories, trigger pain or boost wellbeing. Here’s how to embrace food nostalgia
Have you ever tried to bring back fond memories by eating or drinking something unique to that time and place? It could be a Pina Colada that recalls an island holiday? Or a steaming bowl of pho just like the one you had in Vietnam? Perhaps eating a favourite dish...
Food for thought: How your mindset can make healthy food more alluring on social media
In today’s world, our diets are often packed with fats and sugars. Our ancient instinct to crave calorie-rich foods, which once helped us survive, now leads to harmful health side-effects. To counteract this, food content creators on social media have been trying to...
Toastie Takeover is back but it will never produce a truly great sandwich. Here’s why… (plus the world’s five best sandwiches)
News filters through to us at The Feed's damp but surprisingly homey underground bunker that the Great New Zealand Toastie Takeover is back for another year. Alas, this annual, pickle-slinger-sponsored celebration of the humble sandwich always fills this writer with a...
The cost of eating healthy: NZ fruit and veg prices are going up way faster than processed food
The rising price of food has been making headlines for the past decade. But prices have not been rising consistently across all food groups – and this has major health implications for New Zealanders. Last week Stats NZ released food price data showing the biggest...
Supermarket concentration benefits stores, not shoppers. It’s time to split Foodstuffs – not make it stronger
The proposed merger of Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island raises the prospect of even less choice for New Zealanders in what is an already heavily concentrated market. But will regulators prevent it from happening? New Zealand currently has just three...
Break out the Burgundy and get ready to riot for Bastille Day 2024
Ah, the Fench. Despite everything, you've really got to hand it to a nation who's most important national holiday celebrates a prison riot. This Bastille Day, put aside the snooty waiters of popular legend, the recent flirtation with the far right, the terrible...
From banning junk food ads to a sugar tax: with diabetes on the rise, we can’t afford to ignore the evidence any longer
There are renewed calls this week for the Australian government to implement a range of measures aimed at improving our diets. These include restrictions on junk food advertising, improvements to food labelling, and a levy on sugary drinks. This time the...
Chocolate fish, Toffee Milk, and the end of the world as we know it
Great news for beleagured sub-editors as Cadbury's announce production of ther sepia-tinted, marshmelllow-based chocolate fish has been halted and supplies are disappearing from our shelves forever. The news media has wasted no time noticing that the chocolate fish in...
Dollars and scents: how the right smells can encourage shoppers to buy healthier foods
Imagine walking down the aisle of your local grocery store. The scent of mixed herbs catches your attention, mentally transporting you to a kitchen filled with the aroma of your favourite home-cooked meal. Suddenly, you’re craving hearty minestrone soup or yearning...
Mealtimes can be tough when your child is autistic or has ADHD. Here are 5 tips to try
Gathering as a family for a meal can serve several purposes: from social connection to nutrition. But this can also make eating and mealtimes tricky to manage when someone in the family is neurodivergent. Many autistic children and children with attention-deficit...
Matariki 2024 kai round up
The weather may be a bit grim but respite is on the way: Matariki is rolling over the horizon to reunite us with loved ones, to point us towards the future, and to feed us with the great bounty that comes from our nation's whenua, awa, and moana. Still Aotearoa's...
Are plant-based burgers really bad for your heart? Here’s what’s behind the scary headlines
We’re hearing a lot about ultra-processed foods and the health effects of eating too many. And we know plant-based foods are popular for health or other reasons. So it’s not surprising new research out this week including the health effects of ultra-processed,...
Saving our soil
Words by Charlotte Graham Soil, like air, is everywhere. We walk on it, build our homes on it, and most importantly, we grow our food in it. Yet like air, we take it for granted. Soil is essential for life on earth but until recently we have not valued it as a...
Growing communities
Words Charlotte Graham Resourceful women taking action are the driving force behind the Te Awamutu Food Forest and Cambridge Street Harvest projects. Looking for a sustainable way to support and connect the community, Megan Priscott (TA Food Forest) and Elise Badger...
Solar farms can eat up farmland – but ‘agrivoltaics’ could mean the best of both worlds for NZ farmers
New Zealand plans to commission about eight gigawatts of solar photovoltaic projects – more than the maximum power demand of the whole country on a typical winter’s day – by 2028, according to the government’s latest generation investment survey. Eight of these solar...
Land-based aquaculture brings haku to Northland
Alongside the rolling sand dunes in Northland’s Bream Bay, an award-winning fish is taking the culinary world by storm. And it’s coming to Northland’s Brew of Islands festival July 26th & 27th, to be washed down with a crisp, cold beer. Meet ‘Haku’! Globally,...
Price gouging, bean-washing, and dressing up your bulldog for Valentine’s Day: the supermarkets and their foodbank drives
Fans of people asking for donations to solve problems they themselves have caused are in luck this week, as RNZ publishes a piece gently questioning the supermarkets' instore foodbank collections. Not since Scar started his fund for orphaned lion cubs has hypocrisy...
Farewell Anchor, Fresh’n Fruity and Mainland: what’s behind Fonterra’s decision to sell its consumer brands?
Fonterra caught the business world by surprise last week with plans to sell off its consumer brands and businesses – including supermarket mainstays such as Anchor, Fresh'n Fruity and Mainland. The move has been described as the “most dramatic major structural change”...
Savagnin, hubris and smuggled twigs: the sad story of James Millton
The news that James Millton, the co-founder of Millton Vineyards and a pioneer of bionynamic viticulture in this country, has been convicted of illegally transporting vine cuttings from Australia has sent shockwaves through the wine world in New Zealand and beyond....