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FYI from a reader via email: G'day Bernard,

Good to hear the RNZ interview with you today 2/8 regarding excessive food prices.

When it comes to access to healthy foods, New Zealand has the same problem as South Africa (SA), poorer people cannot afford the excessive cost of fruits and vegetables. NZ and SA suffer some of the highest disease burdens in the world primarily due to a lack of healthy food (see article excerpt and link below).

The excessive cost of healthy foods is exacerbated by the 15% GST on fruits and vegetables. From a public health perspective, NZ's tax on fruit and vegetables is morally bankrupt.

A recent review concludes, "New Zealand produces enough food to feed about 40 million people." Why, then, is the average cost of fruit in NZ as much as a dollar or more per piece.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018802750/who-s-eating-new-zealand-who-else-are-we-feeding

The article published by IPS News concludes, "South Africans have a very high burden of ill health, much of which is related to their diet." (see link below for full text). I sent this article to the Green Party in 2018. The Green's reply outlined more than a dozen changes they would address to resolve the problem. It's been 3 years and I really don't know what they have done.

In addition, NZ's under-funded medical system is constrained to late-stage (bottom-of-the-cliff) care, while it fails to implement established preventive measures known to reduce incidence of disease.

Yours in health,

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