Junk Food vs Public Health

This is a public webinar. You can register here.

New Zealand’s obesity crisis is now the country’s leading risk factor for death and disability and disproportionately impacts Māori and Pasifika. New Zealand’s commercial food environment, marked by pervasive marketing of unhealthy products and the high cost of nutritious food, is stacked against individuals, making healthy choices nearly impossible for many. This crisis demands concerted political action, beyond ineffective educational campaigns that emphasise personal responsibility.

Join us to hear from New Zealand’s top experts on junk food and obesity as they consider the causes of this crisis and the many effective, proven actions New Zealand could take to not only improve health and wellbeing outcomes but to also boost economic productivity.

The speakers

Adam Bradshaw
Senior Policy Advisor, Global Affairs

Adam Bradshaw is a Senior Policy Advisor at the Tony Blair Institute, bringing a wealth of experience from government, non-profits, and international organisations.

He began his career in New Zealand government, spending time in Wellington and Vienna before working at the World Health Organization in Geneva coordinating international responses to foodborne disease outbreaks. He returned to New Zealand to work at the heart New Zealand’s cross-government Covid-19 delivery unit in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet before joining the Tony Blair Institute in London.

Adam is a thought leader at the intersection of policy and science and technology, focusing on how governments can navigate this revolution and redefine prevention for the 21st century. He advocates for the potential of new innovations to solve obesity and prevent chronic disease, the potential of technology to scale these and the reframing of prevention as a strategy to stimulate economic growth.

At the Tony Blair Institute, Adam leads this agenda and has authored influential policy papers on the future of the UK’s NHS, the role of AI in healthcare, and novel strategies to tackle chronic disease, positioning him at the forefront of efforts to align cutting-edge technology with large-scale policy reform.

Cliona Ni Mhurchu
Professor of Population Nutrition, Associate Dean (Research) Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, The University of Auckland

Cliona Ni Mhurchu is a Professor of Population Nutrition in the School of Population Health at Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland. She trained in Nutrition & Dietetics at Trinity College Dublin and worked as a clinical Dietitian in the UK before doing a PhD in Public Health Nutrition. Her research interests include nutrition policy, food taxes and subsidies, healthy food reformulation, nutrition labelling, and scalable dietary interventions. Cliona has published widely on these topics and recently led a project to develop tools and methods for a national nutrition survey. She is Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences.

Ashley Bloomfield
Professor in the School of Public Health, University of Auckland

Sir Ashley Bloomfield has 25 years’ experience in public health, policy and health leadership, including at the WHO in Geneva. He was New Zealand’s Director-General of Health from June 2018 to July 2022 and led the country’s health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was appointed a Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to public health. He is now a Professor at the University of Auckland’s School of Population Health and Chief Executive at Public Health and Forensic Science.

Dave Letele
Founder of the BBM program

Dave “The Brown Buttabean” Letele is of Māori and Samoan heritage. As a child, his father was president of the Mongrel Mob, and he grew up around prisons and criminal activity.

Throughout his life, Dave has experienced massive highs and lows, from early sporting success to the failure of his supermarket business in Australia. He lost everything, including his family, and returned to New Zealand with only the clothes on his back, weighing in at over 200 kgs.
He turned to prize fighting to earn money and get fit, sharing his fitness journey on social media. He lost over 100 kilograms, and the public response to his efforts built up the movement that became Buttabean Motivation (BBM).

For nearly ten years, he has worked to create opportunities for people. He has set up free gyms in West and South Auckland and Tokoroa, a community kitchen, a social supermarket, and a Foodshare which regularly feeds thousands. BBM’s “From The Couch” programme provides major health benefits to underserved people. Each year BBM works with the Middlemore Foundation to provide Christmas to hundreds of families doing it tough.

With BBM, Dave has created a model of giving that includes partnering with business and the Government to provide practical help, using social media to drive engagement. When Cyclone Gabrielle hit in February 2023, he used experience from the Auckland Anniversary flooding to support families across the East Coast and Hawke’s Bay, mobilising local community providers with access to cash.

Dave’s outspoken leadership means he is often in the media and talking to key government and community organisations, agitating for positive change. He shows that negative cycles can be broken with the right support, good people, and dedication.

Murray Bruges
Executive Director at The Helen Clark Foundation

Murray Bruges is the Executive Director of the Helen Clark Foundation. Prior to the Foundation, Murray worked for Fonterra Co-operative Group in Auckland on resource management and environmental policy. From 2011 to 2020, Murray worked for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in a range of roles focused on trade, economic, tech and climate policy, including a three year posting to the New Zealand Consulate General in Los Angeles. Earlier in his career, Murray worked for the Ministry of Fisheries on a range of policy issues. He lives in Auckland with his wife and son.