Te Pāti Māori Te Tai Tonga candidate Takuta Ferris says the party’s kai sovereignty policy has great value not just for tackling the cost of living but for improving whanau health.

The policy includes protection of indigenous plant species, a Māori kai sovereignty board to address issues of hunger, poverty, and inequality, and a community kai fund with $15 million a year to spend on home and marae gardens and Māori and community-led large-scale food farms.

“Because one of the simplest ways we can circumvent the cost of living and not have to be shelling out exorbitant prices at the supermarket is to grow our own and if we can get back to doing that collectively and whānau there is huge benefit and we’re rebuilding that connection to the whenua, to te taiao,” Mr Ferris says.

Te Pāti Māori would also also invest $100 million into a fund to encourage regenerative and organic farming practices and local consumption.