Following our public webinar on Tuesday 30 May, we have drafted a submission on the National Organic Standard (NOS). This standard will form the future rules that organic farmers, growers, processors and retailers will be held to.
A remit passed at the 2022 Soil & Health AGM calling for advocacy on climate change action through organic regenerative farming. The following letter was sent to Ministers and MPs on 18th April 2023. To:Hon Damian O’Connor MP, Minister for Primary Industries;Hon James Shaw MP, Minister of Climate ChangeChris Luxon MP, Leader of the OppositionTodd…
About the video We all know that heavy rains cause soil loss and runoff. And we understand these are harmful to fresh water and the wider environment. But many farmers, gardeners and land owners are unsure about where to start fixing these problems. Join Philippa Jamieson, former editor of Organic NZ magazine, in conversation with…
Learn how to eliminate glyphosate and other harmful herbicides. This recording is available to members, below. Please log-in using the email associated with your membership. If you have trouble logging-in please contact our team by email: About the video This webinar is part of the Soil & Health Association’s campaign to strengthen regulation of…
The Soil & Health Association is welcoming last week’s “Knowing what’s out there” report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. The report criticises New Zealand’s lack of monitoring and regulation of environmental harm from chemicals.
The New Zealand Environmental Protection Agency’s call for information on the use of glyphosate in Aotearoa is a missed opportunity to properly risk assess the substance says Jodie Bruning, spokesperson for the Soil & Health Association. Today the EPA extended the process for a second time. Submissions were due to close today but now close…
A blasé approach to glyphosate regulation in New Zealand threatens our international reputation and poses a risk to New Zealand consumers, Soil & Health Association spokesperson Jodie Bruning said today. “Japanese authorities have now rejected five shipments of glyphosate-contaminated honey from New Zealand’. “New Zealand needs to take glyphosate contamination seriously. The International Agency for Cancer…
Today’s Climate Commission advice shows we need a transition from synthetic fertilisers and other harmful practices towards organic and regenerative agriculture, said Soil & Health Association spokesperson Jenny Lux today. “Organic regenerative farming is a huge opportunity for New Zealand, both economically and environmentally. Early movers have shown that we can make that shift rapidly….
Words by Marion Wood, Chairperson, Soil & Health Association of Aotearoa New Zealand Did you know there’s triple the amount of carbon in soil worldwide as there is in the atmosphere? This was one of many ‘wow’ moments from the launch of Soil4Climate during Organic Week 2020. About Soil4Climate Soil4Climate will do several…
The Soil and Health Association are calling for councils to stop spraying glyphosate to keep New Zealand families safe. ‘The public increasingly understand that it is no longer acceptable to be exposed to glyphosate-based herbicides,’ says Soil & Health spokesperson Jodie Bruning, We are working with US based Non-Toxic Neighbourhoods who have had significant success…
The Soil & Health Association has welcomed Bayer’s announcement of US$10 billion in payouts to tens of thousands of claimants in the US who allege exposure to Roundup herbicide caused their cancer. “But here in New Zealand, we have an untenable situation where glyphosate-based herbicides are sprayed broadly in urban environments, and on human food…
Excellent water quality is of paramount importance for our Treaty obligations, agriculture, tourism industry, health and sense of national identity. In September 2019 the Ministry for the Environment released its proposals for dealing with the crisis in our freshwater: Action for healthy waterways. While the document outlines possible ways of ‘reducing soil loss, reducing nutrient…
Thanks to the generous donations of Soil & Health members and supporters, the Project Gro fund has helped organic gardens in schools and communities around New Zealand. Our project is based in Opunake, Taranaki. Project Gro funds have meant we have been able to reinvigorate the community garden on Opunake High School land that was…
Below are some photos of our Tamariki (children) and Larina planting our new fruit trees and some peas. We already had a Lemon tree but through Project Gro we have since been able to purchase a dual Apple tree, Grape and Passion Fruit vines, Guava, Loquat and Manderin tree which we all look forward to…
In the past few years we have been working with whanau in Taranaki to establish Maara Kai at schools, Kohanga reo, marae and community gardens. Working closely with Hive Taranaki a local education provider for sustainability taught us that gardens are only as sustainable as the people working in them. The need for a mentoring…
We used the Project Gro funds to put in raised beds and get our Community Garden off the ground. Here is a photo of the project and we also have a video of the learners building it. [columns] [span4] [/span4][span4][/span4][span4][/span4][/columns]
Soil & Health’s Project Gro funding enabled us to hook up a rainwater collection system to water the garden. We have turned a derelict block into a functioning garden, supplying food for us as well as for insects and the odd pukeko who likes to spread our nicely piled up compost around the garden. We…
Our project was to erect six raised-bed planter boxes in the school grounds. Students had shown a keen interest in gardening and had a vegetable plot for several years in the backyard of the presbytery next door to the school. This worked well but was not ideal; it was difficult to supervise groups of students…
Thank you for your 2014 grant of $450, plus subscription to your magazine. This has enabled the construction of 4 transportable compost bins. As you can see from the photo these are in active use in our garden and have contributed to its success over the last year, and will continue to do so into…