BACKGROUND:
Food systems shape health, equity, and environmental sustainability, yet many contemporary food environments promote short-term, individualised, and externally controlled relationships with food. In Aotearoa New Zealand, these dynamics intersect with colonial histories that have disrupted Indigenous food systems, knowledge, and relationships with whenua. Food sovereignty offers an alternative approach, positioning food as a social, cultural, and political determinant of health grounded in community control, knowledge-sharing, and place-based practice.

METHODS:
This community-based research was undertaken in partnership with Environment Network Manawatū (ENM) to explore localised understandings and practices of food sovereignty. Using participatory workshops, community kōrero, and analysis of local food initiatives (including māra kai, community gardens, marae-based food systems, pātaka kai, and seed-saving projects), the research examined how communities conceptualise kai, identify barriers to food sovereignty, and enact localised solutions grounded in collective care and reciprocity.

RESULTS:
Findings show that food sovereignty reframes kai as relational rather than transactional. Participants described food as whakapapa, community, knowledge, and healing—supporting cultural identity, wairua, and collective wellbeing. Community-led food initiatives strengthened social connection, intergenerational knowledge transfer, and environmental stewardship. However, barriers to food sovereignty persist, including limited access to land, insecure housing, time and financial pressures, short-term funding models, and regulatory constraints. Participants emphasised that “local” food systems are not inherently sovereign unless they centre mana whenua leadership, equity, and shared decision-making.

CONCLUSIONS:
Food sovereignty functions as a public health approach that addresses upstream determinants of health by strengthening community relationships, cultural knowledge, and local control over food systems. The Manawatū experience demonstrates that investing in community-led, Indigenous-informed food systems can support health equity, environmental sustainability, and intergenerational wellbeing. Food sovereignty is not only about food access, but about restoring relationships, reciprocity, and resilience for people and the planet.