Many worried about where to find next meal

One in 10 New Zealanders are hungry, malnourished or nervous about where their next meal is coming from, according to a recent report.

Ideas being explored in Canterbury to combat low nutrition and hunger include community gardens and kitchens, where people can pool resources and grow and cook healthy food together.

A Canterbury Community and Public Health report says 10 per cent of households had "low food security".

Author Susan Bidwell said this could mean family members were hungry or had a poor diet because they could not afford nutritious food.

Such people might rely on emergency assistance, scrounging or stealing, or not be able to access culturally acceptable foods, she said.

"The recession's probably made it quite a bit more important and brought home to people that there's quite a lot of deprivation out there," she said.

"It's the kind of thing we like to think doesn't happen in New Zealand."

Lack of food security did not affect just the poor; it could also hit middle-income people who had lost their jobs, fell ill or had big mortgage repayments, she said.

"People's positions can be very precarious. One thing just goes and things change."

In developed countries, low food security was connected to increasing obesity, as poorer people tended to buy high-sugar, cheap and filling foods, Bidwell said.

"It seems to be a paradox, but it's quite easy to be obese by eating the wrong food, and under-nutrition like low iron is very damaging to young children."

Maori and Pacific people had the lowest rates of food security, she said.

The agency was looking at supporting community gardens and kitchens.

In community kitchens, which were popular in Canada, people would pool resources to buy bulk food and cook meals together during the week.

Community gardens involved residents planting, tending and harvesting fruit and vegetables together.

Community kitchens also encouraged social interaction, Bidwell said.

- © Fairfax NZ News