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Where’s our food from? Better labelling a step forward

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The blindfold will finally be lifted when it comes to buying food, but the Soil & Health Association says consumers need even greater transparency.

Soil & Health welcomes the passing into law of the Consumers’ Right to Know (Country of Origin of Food) Bill. The Bill, which requires food to carry country of origin labelling, passed with near unanimous support last night in Parliament. While footwear and clothing must be identified where they’re from, until now country of origin of food labelling has only been voluntary in New Zealand.

The Bill was a first introduced in 2016 by former MP, and now Soil & Health National Council member, Steffan Browning, as a Green Party Member’s bill.

“Transparent food labelling is fundamental in allowing people to make informed choices. Mandatory country of origin labelling is a step towards allowing consumers to do this,” says Steffan Browning.

The Bill however only applies to single ingredient foods such as fresh fruit, meat, fish and vegetables and Soil & Health says foods of multiple origins should be labelled too. This requirement could be brought in later through the setting of Fair Trading Act regulations.

“The Bill is a building block to more comprehensive food labelling requirements,” says Browning.

Soil & Health is also concerned that several single origin foods have been excluded from the Bill, including flour, oils, nuts and seeds.

“We particularly want flours and grains included, as most of the soy and maize products from the US are genetically modified. It’s absolutely necessary we have GE food labelling, but in that absence of enforcement we should at the very least be able to choose what country maize and soy products are from,” says Browning.

There has been widespread support for country of origin labelling. A survey conducted last year by Consumer NZ and Horticulture NZ found that 71% of Kiwis want mandatory country of origin labelling and 65% said they looked for country of origin labelling when they were shopping.

“There are many reasons why consumers want to know which country their food comes from. Some want to avoid GE food, food with pesticide residues, or food coming from countries with poor labour conditions or environmental and animal welfare standards,” says Browning.

Soil & Health has been campaigning for mandatory country of origin labelling for over a decade, since the government opted out of joining Australia in mandating country of origin labelling under the Food Standards Code on the grounds it would be an impediment to trade.

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Media contact:

Steffan Browning

021804223

Maori organics and Te Tiriti o Waitangi

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Long before Europeans arrived on Aotearoa’s shores, Māori were prolific gardeners. Today in Aotearoa many whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori communities are using organic gardening practices to promote self-sufficiency in their whānau and communities.

The Soil & Health Association:

  • Encourages the practice of hua parakore – Māori organic growing, across Aotearoa. This is a way for Māori to bring kaupapa Māori to mara kai practices, to reconnect to whenua, tupuna and as way of restoring cultural identity.
  • Acknowledges the creation narratives of Aotearoa, and are committed to enhancing them not diminishing them.
  • Encourage and support iwi, hapū and whānau to save and use their own local, traditional and heritage seed varieties, to plant a diversity of cultivars and distribute locally adapted varieties of seed.
  • Encourage the development of food gardens and gardening education in marae and kura kaupapa / Māori schools.
  • See Māori organic gardening and farming as way of fulfilling tino rangatiratanga under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
  • Believe iwi, hapū and whānau have a Te Tiriti right that guarantees their choice of staying free from pesticide pollution and GMO contamination.
  • Believe that genetic engineering is a threat to mātauranga (knowledge) located with tangata whenua throughout the different tribal regions of Aotearoa.
  • Believe that the use of GMOs in Aotearoa would be a breach to tikanga Māori (Maori protocols), a breach of the Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and a threat to both the health of Māori and the environment.
  • Believe that iwi, hapū and whānau have a Te Tiriti right to all of their agricultural Taonga species remaining free from pesticide and GMO contamination.
  • Believe there is a need to rebuild diverse rural economies through organics for sustainable jobs for Māori.

                                            Photo credit: Nick Holmes

Healthy Soil

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The health of our food and therefore the health of people is dependent on the health of the soil. Most of the food we eat has been grown in a fragile layer of topsoil that has been formed over thousands of years. Topsoil is being lost at an ever-increasing rate due to extractive agriculture and forestry practices. Industrialised agriculture, through the use of agrichemicals, overstocking, heavy machinery and a lack of soil cover, is destroying soil structure, causing soil compaction and erosion, and the depletion and loss of soil organic matter and nutrients. Organic agricultural methods, in contrast, use sustainable soil and crop management practices (including species-rich pastures) that work to protect and enhance soil fertility, structure and biological activity in the system.

The Soil & Health Association, as our name suggests, believes in restoring soils for the production of healthy food, therefore healthy people and a healthy earth.

We support organic agriculture and farming systems that foster soil health and produce healthy and nutritious food.

We encourage the use of organic residues and the recycling of biodegradable organic wastes such as manures, green manures, seaweed, and compost.

We encourage the use of minerals in their natural forms as fertilisers to re-establish soil mineral balance and to nourish soil microbes.

We are opposed to the use of synthetic fertilisers.

                                            Photo credit: Nick Holmes

Education

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Education is key to ensuring an environmentally sustainable future for the planet. Just three generations ago our food came from gardens and orchards, we were all gardeners, and each bioregion was self-sufficient in most fresh foods.

The opposite is now true. Today in Aotearoa New Zealand less than 7% of people are growing food for the other 93% of us. Our modern industrial food system is both ecologically destructive and functionally fragile. We are already experiencing increasingly unseasonal weather extremes as climate change kicks in. The next few decades will be very different from the last few, and our food supply and therefore our communities are vulnerable. We need more people growing food, and more young people to choose growing and farming as their future and this all starts with education.

The Soil & Health Association supports community food production initiatives such as community gardens, food forests and orchards that help to educate the public on small- scale sustainable food production techniques.

We encourage:

The development of food gardens and orchards in public institutions such as early childhood centres, schools, prisons, hospitals and retirement homes.

Educational links between schools, farms and community food projects.

We believe that:

There is a need for better government support for food production education at all levels of the education system.

School curricula should incorporate the practice and theory of food production.

Food is valued as an academic subject.

All schools should be supported to provide an area for children to learn how to grow food.

Cooking classes, including food traceability, preparation and storage skills, and a focus on nutrition should also be included in the curriculum for primary school and secondary school children.

Wherever farming and horticulture is taught, organic and sustainable methods must be central in all courses.

 

                                            Photo credit: Nick Holmes

Pesticides

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Conventional agriculture relies on pesticides to protect crops from pests and diseases – including synthetic herbicides to control weeds and synthetic

fertilisers to promote crop growth. Over time this heavy use of synthetic chemicals reduces the soil biota and the productive capacity of the soil, and creates increased resistance by pests to the chemicals used, as well as the resurgence of secondary pests.

There are various long-term effects associated with particular pesticides that are found in our food, including endocrine or hormonal disruption, cancer, immune system effects, nervous system damage, genetic damage, infertility and birth defects.  These chemicals are also dispersed in the environment, polluting waterways and damaging ecosystems.

Numerous studies on the adverse impacts of pesticides and chemical fertilisers have raised awareness about the use of synthetic chemicals in agriculture, including how effective they actually are in treating pests and diseases, and the impact they are having on human health as well as the wider environment. People are turning to more natural forms of pest and disease control that are more effective, sustainable and healthier in the long term.

Organic agriculture has a holistic approach to pest and disease management that avoids the need for pesticides by instead focusing on building healthy fertile soil with abundant microbial life, fostering natural predators and using natural remedies. Truly well-nourished plants do not attract pests or provide a suitable situation for pests and diseases to develop. Farmers and producers try to create healthy soil so that plants and animals can be healthy, and build up good natural defences against pests and diseases. The long-term health of the soil is taken into consideration, rather than trying to deal with the immediate problem with synthetic sprays. Biological controls may be used.

The Soil & Health Association is opposed to the use of harmful pesticides in Aotearoa New Zealand. We advocate for farmers and producers to adopt natural, non-harmful methods of pest and disease management.

We believe that:

The most toxic harmful pesticides such as glyphosate should be phased out immediately.

Use of glyphosate in public places, home gardens and for pre-harvest desiccation should cease immediately as these are the routes that expose most people to glyphosate. Other uses should be restricted and phased out as soon as possible. Researchers and farmers should be encouraged to develop and implement nonchemical alternatives to glyphosate that foster soil microbial life instead of destroying it.

Pesticide spray drift across a landowner’s boundaries without the neighbours’ consent should be made illegal.

There is a need for stricter enforcement with higher penalties for any harm from pesticides caused to human or animal health and/or pollution of waterways, groundwater, air and soil.

When pesticides are used the ‘polluter pays’ principle should apply, so that pesticide users should be held financially liable for any adverse effects that might occur from spray drift or chemical trespass.

More resources are needed for the monitoring of farm spraying activities and their effects on the health of the environment and people.

Aerial spraying of pesticides should be a prohibited activity.

 

                                            Photo credit: Nick Holmes

 

Biodiversity in agriculture/diverse agriculture

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Agriculture is one of the fundamental drivers behind biodiversity loss worldwide. Monoculture crops and livestock, synthetic fertilisers and pesticides are the greatest contributors to the loss of biodiversity in agriculture.

In agriculture, synthetic pesticides are often used to eliminate unwanted weeds, pests and diseases, reducing biodiversity, particularly key soil microbial diversity in the system and upsetting ecosystem balance.

Two-thirds of the GE crops grown in the world are engineered to be used with harmful pesticides, and other GE crops release insecticides. Monoculture cropping, which is the norm in industrialised farming, reduces biodiversity. However, it is this very biodiversity that provides the key to pest protection, pollination, nutrient cycling, healthy soils and water quality.

Organic farming methods work to promote biodiversity and encourage wildlife in the system. This includes protecting and enhancing forest remnants, wetlands and other natural ecosystems that support wildlife. Organic farming also includes biodiversity as a way to enhance production. Allowing for diversity in an agricultural system helps to increase resilience to climate change and market fluctuations and reduces susceptibility to pest and disease outbreaks.

The Soil & Health Association supports:

Diverse organic farming systems that encourage biodiversity and wildlife in the system and help protect and enhance native ecosystems.

Natural forms of pest control.

Mixed rotational farming and keeping a living root in the soil at all times to sequester carbon.

Appropriate tree planting and the creation of regenerated forested areas in farming and agriculture, including planting of species native to the area, the creation of fruit and nut orchards, copses, hedgerows and shade and windbreak trees. We discourage the use of monoculture crops in agriculture systems.

                                            Photo credit: Nick Holmes

Clean waterways

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New Zealand’s waterways are in a dire state with a staggering 60% of monitored rivers being unsafe for swimming and 74% of freshwater fish species are threatened. A big factor in this is nitrogen pollution from the increasing intensification of agriculture. Much of the nitrogen pollution comes from cattle urine diffusing through soils and pasture root zones, and from soluble synthetic nitrogen fertilisers, so while planting stream banks and fencing off streams is good, it cannot solve this issue on its own. Going organic is part of the solution to fixing polluted fresh waterways in New Zealand. Organic dairy farming does not use any soluble nitrogen fertilisers, has lower stock density, promotes greater biodiversity, has grass-fed cows, and feed supplements are free of GE ingredients and palm kernel.

Soil & Health Association believes that the bottom line for human health in fresh water bodies should be that they are safe for primary contact i.e. for swimming. Soil & Health believes that freshwater pollution is not merely about farmers breaching rules. What is required is government intervention to lift water quality standards and incentivise more sustainable and organic methods of farming.

Soil & Health supports:

Fencing off stock from waterways.

Riparian strips and buffer zones of vegetation.

Sustainable stock numbers.

Organic and biological farming methods that involve nitrogen fixing pasture species, and healthy      living soils with good moisture-holding capacity.

Mixed rotational farming.

                                            Photo credit: Nick Holmes

 

Animal welfare

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Every year thousands of animals in New Zealand are farmed intensively, kept in unhygienic and cramped conditions, with high levels of stress and injury, and unable to express normal behaviours. This is ethically unacceptable and contrary to the stated principles in the Animal Welfare Act.  Additionally, large numbers are subjected to cruelty through drug and chemical testing.

The Soil & Health Association advocates for the highest standards of animal welfare.

We believe that:

All animals should be treated with compassion and respect and be optimally nourished.

If animals are to be slaughtered then this should be done in the most humane way possible and as close to the point of production as possible to reduce stress on the animals.

Any farming methods that cause animals to suffer or prevent them from expressing normal patterns of behaviour should be phased out.

Drug and chemical testing should use in silico and in vivo methods to the greatest extent possible.

We are also opposed to:

The live exporting of animals.

The use of sow crates, battery cages, colony cages, and standing-room-only pens for cattle, and any other forms of close confinement for animals that prevent them from expressing their natural instincts and tendencies.

Cruel practices such as debeaking and toe-cutting of poultry, tail docking of cows and pigs and mulesing of sheep.

Vivisection.

Unnecessary testing of drugs and chemicals on animals including testing GMO and GE cloning.

 

We support the internationally recognised Five Freedoms of animal welfare.

                                            Photo credit: Nick Holmes

Seed saving

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Much of the agricultural diversity that has taken 10,000 years to create is under threat due to industrialised agriculture. As late as 1900 there were over 1500 different food crops, each further represented by thousands of different cultivated varieties. Today however over 90% of the world’s food is made up of only 30 different food crops, and of these only four (wheat, rice, corn and soybeans) provide 75% of the calories consumed by humans.

Industrialised agriculture has forced reliance on a small number of crops with narrow genetic diversity. These highly specialised crop cultivars require stable climates and specific growing conditions, making them highly vulnerable to any disturbances. As a result we are seeing a loss of long-term and local crop diversity and resilience, which in turn favours large agribusiness companies by allowing them to have a monopoly on seed supply. This is all at the expense of farming livelihoods and food security with an increased risk of large-scale crop failures, pest and disease outbreaks and pandemics. In addition, industrialised agriculture has led to a reduction in the nutritive value of food.

The Soil & Health Association:

Believes that everyone should have the right to save their own seed and the right to grow, consume and distribute locally adapted varieties of seed.

Supports any government initiative that improves the situation for locally saved seeds and propagation material useful for organic cultivation.

Encourages people to use their own local, traditional and heritage seed varieties and to plant a diversity of cultivars, both for personal and commercial production.

Supports local seed banks, seed libraries and the conservation of locally selected seed varieties.

Advocates for the mandatory labelling of all ingredients used in any seed treatment.

                                            Photo credit: Nick Holmes

GE/GM

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Genetic engineering (GE), also known as genetic modification (GM), is one of the most controversial technologies of recent times. Soil & Health has found no economic, health or environmental benefits from GE. There is great uncertainty around the adverse effects of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) on natural resources, ecosystems and also on human health. The risks are large and consequences could be irreversible. If GMOs were to be released into the environment, they can be very difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate. The GE-free food producer status of an individual, district or region would likely be permanently lost, along with any marketing advantages that status provides.

Current laws are inadequate to hold GMO users liable for any adverse consequences, intended or even if unintended. Therefore the public is likely to have to pay for anything that might go wrong.

The Soil & Health Association is opposed to the use of GE ingredients and GMOs in human and animal food, and is opposed to the outdoor use of any GE crops, animals and other organisms in Aotearoa New Zealand. We believe that we would do better for our farmers, environment and human health by retaining our market advantage of being GE free.

We support:

  • New Zealand remaining a GE-free country.
  • The establishment of GE-free regions, in the event of there being no Aotearoa New Zealand wide GE-free strategy.
  • Mandatory and comprehensive labelling for any products containing GE ingredients (including products from animals fed GE feed).
  • The precautionary principle and the imposition of strict conditions and severe penalties must be placed on any research and trialling of GE.
  • A ban on field-testing and production of GE crops, animals, trees and other organisms in New Zealand.
  • A ban of all GE food and animal feed imports into Aotearoa New Zealand.
  • Strong precautionary approach to new/novel technologies.

                                            Photo credit: Nick Holmes