The Good Food Road Map showcased at Farmers' Markets NZ conference
The Good Food Road Map has been showcased at a recent national conference, as a strategic framework to increase collaboration for collective impact and systems change.
Julio Bin, Lead Systems Innovator at Healthy Families South Auckland, was invited in July to speak to members of Farmers’ Markets NZ at their national conference in Wellington, an event that celebrates local food, sustainable agriculture, and community connections.
He shared the Good Food Road Map to help instigate systems thinking and the potential use of different models, including community-led, collective, and co-operative, to support local food systems.
“Conferences like the Farmers’ Markets NZ provides an excellent opportunity to introduce the systems change approach,” Julio says.
“It also gave a chance to discuss how these community organisations could further support local food systems and promote healthier lifestyles in their communities.”
The Farmers’ Market movement is about supporting the local food economy, giving consumers access to regional food, and building and strengthening local communities.
This aligns with the Good Food Road Map’s collective strategy to working towards food security and food sovereignty in New Zealand in order to help strengthen the overall health, wellbeing, and resilience of local communities.
Dave Kennedy, Vice Chair of the Farmers’ Markets NZ, says the Good Food Road Map was one of the highlights of the conference for a number of attendees.
“It was able to make sense of the complexities of our current food system and how food could be used as a catalyst for change. Our representatives could identify a role for their markets in advancing all five concepts presented in the Good Food Road Map.”
Julio says that sharing Healthy Families kaupapa such as the Good Food Road Map with diverse groups across the motu is a fertile ground to sowing the seeds of change in our food system.
“There are plenty of well-structured stand-alone initiatives that together, can create a powerful movement towards a resilient and sustainable food system. Our role is to connect and offer strategic support to leverage their mahi to deliver positive long-term systems change.”