Future of Food · Issue 11 · March 2026

Food fighters

Why polarisation is the real food crisis, and how it can be fixed

The hardest problem in the food system is not technical. It is social. When nobody trusts what you say, why would they buy what you sell?

Ahead of E Tipu 2026 in Christchurch, we sat down with food futurist Jack Bobo, author of Why Smart People Make Bad Food Choices, and asked him to look at food all the way out to 2100. His central point stayed with me: once the food debate becomes a story of heroes and villains, farmers, companies and advocates retreat into defensive corners and collaboration stops.

Jack's way through is to change the story. Start with what the food system has achieved, then be honest about what still needs fixing, and you give industry a way in rather than a reason to resist. For New Zealand that same shift supports a premium strategy built on quality, provenance and trust rather than scale, and leaves room for more than one pathway to a better 2050.

What the issue covers

  • If we farmed with 1960s technology, we would need about a billion more hectares to feed the people we feed today.
  • Feeding more people is largely a 2050 problem. After that, population is likely to peak and the challenge changes shape.
  • Polarisation erodes trust in food claims just as climate, geopolitics and trade make supply chains more fragile.
  • Be clear on the goal and flexible on the route. Credible claims belong at the centre of the food story.

A question to take to your next board or leadership meeting

Who in your part of the food system do you treat as the villain, and what would change if you started from what they have got right?

Work through it with me
Written by
Vincent Heeringa and Dr Victoria Hatton
With contributions from
  • Jack Bobo, Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies, UCLA

The Future of Food series was originally published by FoodHQ Innovation Limited between 2024 and 2026, while I was Chief Executive. Each issue is reproduced here in full, with thanks to my co-authors, the contributors and FoodHQ's partners.