New study finds colonisation driving food insecurity for Māori

A kaupapa Māori study, led by postdoctoral health researcher Madeline Shelling (Ngāti Porou) from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, draws on in-depth interviews with Māori kai experts. It documents how colonial land loss, environmental degradation, restrictive laws and the marginalisation of mātauranga Māori have dismantled Māori food systems across generations.

“People often talk about food insecurity as if it’s about bad choices,” Shelling said. “But what we heard repeatedly is that many of those ‘choices’ simply don’t exist.”

Before colonisation, Māori maintained sophisticated and sustainable food systems that supported strong health and collective well-being. Diets included forest foods, freshwater species such as tuna, coastal and deep-sea fish, shellfish, birds, berries and fern root. Surplus kai enabled trade between hapū and iwi, while harvesting was guided by mātauranga Māori and kaitiakitanga.

“We were never above our food sources in some sort of hierarchy,” Shelling said. “We are kaitiaki, with responsibilities that came with our mana whenua, mana moana, mana takutai.”

The study contrasts those systems with contemporary outcomes, where Māori experience almost twice the rate of food insecurity compared with non-Māori, alongside higher rates of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

One study participant described losing access to a local awa (river) after land was privatised, cutting off a key food source for his whānau.

“His father went from being able to lay down a hīnaki and catch tuna,a cheap, healthy food source, to nothing,” Shelling said. “That worsened poverty, and sped up the loss of mātauranga Māori around kai. For him, being poor became normalised as ‘just part of being Māori’.”

The research identifies four key impacts of colonisation: loss of whenua and access to mahinga kai (food sources); erosion of rangatiratanga through laws restricting harvesting and food sharing; marginalisation of mātauranga Māori; and widespread impacts on hauora, including whakamā and social stigma.

The study also challenges narratives that frame obesity and diabetes as “lifestyle diseases”.

“That framing assumes everyone has the same time, money and opportunities to make healthy choices,” Shelling said. “Having the freedom to choose healthy food is a privilege, and what we haven’t realised is that not all people have that.”

“We have families who are in a two-income household, hardworking, but living in low socio-economic neighbourhood where some of the only options available are fish and chips instead of fresh tuna or healthy kai.”

Shelling pointed to foods such as pork bones and lamb flaps, often described as traditional Māori kai, as examples of survival rather than being purely traditional or preferred.

“These foods are popular among Māori and became common during times of struggle resulting from colonisation, which we still see on our plates today.

"They are filled with fat, but they were affordable during extreme hardship,” she said. “It’s important to question if these foods were an adaptation to survive the dismantling of traditional kai systems, or part of pre-colonial kai culture.”

The research also reveals current food policies focused on education, charity or individual behaviour are insufficient, and focus must shift to decolonising the food system, restoring access to land and waterways, removing legal barriers to harvesting, protecting the environment and supporting Māori-led food sovereignty initiatives.

“Colonisation is still shaping what’s on people’s dinner plates today,” Shelling said. “Māori know that kai nourishes hauora. Colonisation disrupted our knowledge of feeding ourselves well, but we are reclaiming it.”

Shelling said the research aims to shift blame away from individuals and empower whānau.

“This is not our fault, not our parents’ or grandparents’ fault,” she said. “But everyone has a role in understanding how the food system has failed Māori, but also how it can be rebuilt.”