Lay summary
Global climate change will undermine public health initiatives and outcomes at population levels, and the ability to grow and gather food is a critical dimension of this challenge. Weather instability, rising temperatures, ocean acidification, extreme droughts, and floods have, and will continue to, apply pressure on humanity’s ability to survive on planet earth (Willett et al., 2019). Internationally, climate and eco-anxiety, the distress caused by ecological crises, is increasingly recognised as a key driver of mental and emotional distress (Hickman et al., 2021), especially for Indigenous groups among whom impacts on mental health are direct, indirect and cumulative. Immediate effects change environments and lifeways toward unsustainablity, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities with losses related to food insecurity, culture, place and socio-economic disadvantages (Vecchio et al., 2022). This research will explore the intersection between climate change, food security/sovereignty, and mental health along State Highway 35 in the Eastern Bay of Plenty/Te Tairāwhiti regions.