What's wrong with NZ's Food Bill?

The world is in the midst of a food shortage crisis and yet the New Zealand government is trying to pass a 378 page Food Bill that limits our rights to sell and swap food, even home-grown.

Seriously!?!

Sarah from The Healthy Home Economist (over in the United States) is so horrified that New Zealanders are about to lose many of the privileges we've always taken for granted, she's written a post about it, encouraging us to stand up and fight.

So what's wrong with the Food Bill?

Well, I'm no expert in interpreting government policy, but these are some of the issues that have jumped out at me:

1. Definition of "sale" too broad
A huge flaw in the Food Bill can be found on pages 38-39, in its definition of a sale. This definition is so broad that it captures every possible activity relating to food, including B'n'Bs, community gardens, marae gardens, the roadside sale of fruit and vegetables, food stalls, farmers' markets, even the swapping of seeds and produce between home gardeners.

Page 38-39:
12 Meaning of sale
(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, sale, in relation to food,—
(a) means selling food for processing and handling or for human consumption; and
(b) includes—
     (i) reselling food for processing and handling or for human consumption; and
     (ii) offering food or attempting to sell food, or receiving or having food in possession for sale, or exposing food for sale, or sending or delivering food for sale, or causing or permitting food to be sold, offered, or exposed for sale; and 
     (iii) bartering food; and
     (iv) selling, or offering to sell, any thing of which any food forms a part; and 
     (v) supplying food, together with any accommodation, service, or entertainment, as part of an inclusive charge; and
(vi) supplying food in exchange for payment or in relation to which payment is to be made in a shop, hotel, restaurant, at a stall, in or on a craft or vehicle, or any other place; and 
(vii) for the purpose of advertisement or to promote any trade or business, offering food as a prize or reward to the public, whether on payment of money or not, or giving away food; and
(viii) exporting food; and
(ix) every other method of disposition of food for valuable consideration.

2. Community group fundraisers and people wanting to trade food for personal development limited to 20 times a year
Community groups selling food as part of a fundraiser will be able to get away with it up to 20 times a year, if they abide by information set out in the Food Handler Guidance (pages 87-88).

Anything over that will be deemed a commercial affair and need to operate under a registered food control plan or a national programme.

Note: Community organisations selling food in a permanent stall as an aside to their normal activities are exempt from needing to be registered.

Page 89
94 Exemption if trading in food is for charitable purpose 
(1) This section applies if a person or an organisation (whether a body corporate or not)—
(a) trades in food for a charitable purpose; and
(b) carries out trading in food for that purpose—
(i) on a non-commercial scale; and
(ii) on either of the following: 
(A) an infrequent basis that does not exceed, regardless of the location, more than 20 occasions in each calendar year; or
(B) a regular or frequent basis so long as the trading is an ancillary or incidental component of activities being undertaken by the
person or organisation at the place where the trading occurs (for example, a permanent stall selling donated food at a hospice).
(2) The person or organisation is exempt from the requirement to operate under a registered food control plan or a national
programme.
(3) However, the person or organisation must operate under any food handler guidance that applies to the trade in food concerned.
(4) In this section, charitable purpose includes every charitable purpose, whether it relates to the relief of poverty, the advancement
of education or religion, or any other matter beneficial to the community.



94A Exemption if trading in food is for personal development purpose
(1) This section applies if a person or group of persons—
(a) trades in food for a personal development purpose; and
(b) carries out trading in food for that purpose—
(i) on a non-commercial scale; and
(ii) on an infrequent basis that does not exceed, regardless of the location, more than 20 occasions in each calendar year.
(2) The person or group is exempt from the requirement to operate under a registered food control plan or a national programme.
(3) However, the person or group must operate under any food handler guidance that applies to the trade in food concerned.
(4) In this section, personal development purpose means a purpose that relates to the intellectual, emotional, physical, social, 

cultural, or other personal development of a person or members of a group.

3. Small-scale food traders 
Small enterprises that want to sell or barter more than 20 times a year will either have to operate under a registered food control plan or a national programme, or they will have to apply for exemption individually.

This is a huge waste of time and resources, and I think will discourage small-scale food trading like individual stall-holders at farmers markets, B'n'Bs, roadside produce stalls and more.

Page 6: "Very small-scale food traders, or “cottage industries” are not distinguished in the bill. It would be difficult to quantify “small-scale” in terms of profit, quantity of product, or number of people involved in the operation, and it is also difficult to define a “cottage” food industry. Doing so could have the effect of inappropriately including or excluding particular food-trading activities. Therefore we do not recommend a generic “cottage industry” provision, and propose instead that any exemption from the requirement to operate under a food control plan or national programme regulations could be made on a case-by-case basis through the exercise of the chief executive’s exemption power under this clause."

What can we do?
As Andy Kentworthy has written in his article, Food Bill: What's the fuss? in Issue 21 of Good Magazine, "It's dangerous to allow badly constructed laws to pass on the assumption that some of it won't be enforced. The Food Bill needs amending so that activities currently unfairly captured are exempt."

So what can we do about it? The Food Bill has already passed its submission stage - very quietly and under the radar I might add. I was not aware about the Food Bill until it was too late to make a submission.

However, you can still sign an online petition to let the government know you oppose the Food Bill. The petition requires 50,000 signatures and so far has just over 10,000. We need to act fast, before Parliament reconvenes in the New Year and pushes the Bill through.

It only takes a minute to sign the petition, and I think it's a good idea as the more people who sign it, the more care Government will have to take with the Food Bill.

You could also write directly to the Minister of Food and Safety, Hon Kate Wilkinson, expressing your concerns with the bill.

Hon Kate Wilkinson

Email: kate.wilkinson@national.org.nz


I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Food Bill. Trying to wade through and understand it is doing my head in, so any insight from others would be greatly appreciated.

Linked to Patchwork Living Blogging Bee.