Graham, RebekahThomas, Lucy2026-06-052026-06-052026https://hdl.handle.net/10289/18326This thesis explores how community food rescue initiatives in Kirikiriroa Hamilton respond to food insecurity - while fostering empowerment and community wellbeing. Despite Aotearoa New Zealand being a nation of agricultural abundance, approximately one in five children and one in four households experience food insecurity (DPMC, 2021; Child Poverty Action Group, 2019). This statistic reflects systemic inequalities which are rooted in neoliberal policy reforms rather than mere food availability. This research is informed by community psychology values and uses a Participatory Action Research (PAR) informed approach. This study employed participatory action research–informed qualitative design, using semi-structured interviews and reflexive thematic analysis to explore experiences of food rescue among facilitators and recipients in Kirikiriroa Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand. The study interviewed seven participants, four recipients of food rescue and three facilitators of community food initiatives – all supported by Go Eco, a local food rescue organisation. The findings from interviews with both recipients and facilitators reveal that food rescue initiatives embody empowerment and provide support that makes a real positive difference in daily life. Yet the research also makes something clear, these initiatives, no matter how well-intentioned or skilfully run cannot fix the systems that create food insecurity in the first place. The food rescue initiatives are not a preventative approach to food security, yet a band-aid problem which provides essential basic needs to community members. This research deepens understanding on how community-driven approaches can protect dignity and foster wellbeing, even amid precarity and food hardship. At the same time, the research makes it clear that this work only exists because structural supports have failed. Meaningful change requires confronting inadequate welfare provisions, living costs that very much outpace incomes and benefits, and the neoliberal framing that positions poverty as personal failure rather than policy failure. The study offers insights for community organisations, policymakers and community psychologists.enAll items in Research Commons are provided for private study and research purposes and are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.community psychologyfood insecuritypsychologyneoliberalismThesis