The Soil & Health Association welcomes a change to the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill regarding genetic engineering, but says it still does not go far enough.
Yesterday the controversial RLA Bill passed the committee stage, meaning that amendments can no longer be made to the Bill. The Bill is now expected to have its third and final reading on Thursday.
However the controversial section 360D – known as ‘the dictator’ clause – has not been removed from the final version of the RLA Bill. This clause allows the Minister for the Environment to bypass parliament and make fundamental changes to the law if he deems council plans duplicate or deal with the same subject matter as central Government laws. Instead section 360D now contains an exemption that prevents the minister from imposing GM crops on regions that want their territorites to remain GM Free.
“We are pleased that the Maori Party has stood strong on their promises not to support the changes that would have allowed the Minister to strike out GE-free zones. We commend the Maori Party for this,” says Soil & Health chair Marion Thomson.
While section 360D is still in the final version of the Bill, the exemption means that the Minister cannot strike out GE-free zones.
“The word ‘crop’ has a wide definition and we understand that the Maori Party secured the amendment on the basis that the term also covers grasses and forestry, while the term ‘growing’ could also cover field trials and releases,” says Thomson.
Of concern for Soil & Health however is that the exemption does not apply to animals, meaning the Minister could override local authorities on any decisions about GE animals if he chose to.
“We have been kept on the edge of our seats through this long process and have had to keep faith in the Maori Party that they would do the right thing and not support the amendments that would abolish GM-free zones,” says Thomson.
“Ultimately we are happy with this result, while animals are not covered, GM grasses, forestry, field trials and releases are.”
Contact: Karen Summerhays
Spokesperson, Soil & Health Association
021 043 7858
https://soilandhealth.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Food-Sovereignty-2.jpg640937editorhttps://soilandhealth.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Soil-and-Health-Association_logoFA-web2024.jpgeditor2017-04-05 13:07:312017-04-05 13:07:31GE-Free Zones partially protected in RMA amendments
The Government seems hell-bent on denying the rights of communities to have GE-free zones, which are under threat from a ‘dictator clause’, says the Soil & Health Association.
“We are continuing to stand by all the communities around New Zealand who, quite rightly, want to have control over what happens with GMOs in their regions,” said Marion Thomson, chair of Soil & Health.
Yesterday Parliament heard the second reading of the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill, which contains proposals that would allow Minister for the Environment Nick Smith to strip councils of their ability to create GE-Free food producing zones.
The Local Government and Environment Select Committee report on the Bill was released last week with the controversial section 360D still in the Bill.
Section 360D – known as ‘the dictator’ or ‘Henry VIII’ clause – would allow the Minister to bypass parliament and make fundamental changes to the law if he deems council plans duplicate or deal with the same subject matter as central Government laws.
Of further concern to the Soil & Health Association is the introduction of a new section – 43A(3A) – that would give the Minister another avenue to strike out local GE-free zones.
This new amendment was introduced at the select committee stage, meaning it wasn’t made available for public consultation.
“This latest move runs firmly against principles of natural justice and the democratic right of the public to have their say on matters that affect them,” said Marion Thomson.
The environment minister is looking to the Maori Party for the votes needed to get these anti-democratic provisions through.
However, during the reading yesterday Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox declared that they support achieving a GE Free New Zealand and that this has always been their policy.
In a letter to the Minister in December last year the Maori Party stated that it does not support changes to the RMA “if they extend to allowing the Minister to overrule a provision in a plan, for example, to have a GMO Free Zone.”
The Far North and Whangarei District Councils as well as Auckland Council have all prohibited the outdoor release of GMOs via their local plans, creating a GE-Free northern peninsula from the Bombay Hills to Cape Reinga.
“These council decisions have been driven by local communities and the mana whenua and iwi authorities in the regions. The Maori Party has made firm promises to stand by communities that want their territories to be GMO Free. We are confident that they will not go back on their word and that they will vote against the 360D and 43A clauses,” says Thomson.
Note to editors:
Nick Smith’s view that the EPA, not local councils, can control the release of GMOs has been found wrong by both the Environment Court and the High Court which have ruled that there is jurisdiction under the Resource Management Act for local councils to control the outdoor use of GMOs via regional policy instruments. The EPA approves, approves with controls, or turns down applications for genetically engineered organisms under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act. Councils can control, restrict or ban GMOs within their territories, under the RMA.
Contact: Marion Thomson
Chair, Soil & Health Association
027 555 4014
Photo credit: Nick Holmes
https://soilandhealth.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/NEF_9301-2.jpg14242144editorhttps://soilandhealth.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Soil-and-Health-Association_logoFA-web2024.jpgeditor2017-03-15 12:46:102024-09-17 11:29:59GE-FREE ZONES UNDER THREAT FROM RMA AMENDMENT
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
https://soilandhealth.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Maori-organics-2.jpg734982editorhttps://soilandhealth.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Soil-and-Health-Association_logoFA-web2024.jpgeditor2017-02-26 15:54:422024-08-15 21:26:18Maori organics and Te Tiriti o Waitangi
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.
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.
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.
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
https://soilandhealth.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/biodiversity-2.jpg6741011editorhttps://soilandhealth.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Soil-and-Health-Association_logoFA-web2024.jpgeditor2017-02-26 15:37:022024-08-18 16:46:42Biodiversity in agriculture/diverse agriculture
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.
There are increasing levels of diet-related health issues in Aotearoa New Zealand. Many illnesses have been linked to food including diabetes, attention deficit disorder, fertility problems, thyroid disorders, obesity, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Aotearoa New Zealand has the third highest adult obesity rate in the OECD and one in ten children are obese. The majority of people in the developed world eats excessive quantities of highly processed pre-packaged foods and have no idea about the number of harmful chemicals they are exposed to every day through the food they eat. Many pesticides have been consistently linked to cancers and other long-term illnesses.
Micronutrients are essential for good health but are commonly lacking or diminished in industrially produced food. This has led to a demand for safe, organic food free of harmful chemicals. There is a growing awareness of food and how it determines health. People are now becoming more aware of what is in our food and demanding to know how it is grown.
The Soil & Health Association believes that everyone has a right to safe food, which covers the right to have food free from:
Microbial contamination, harmful organisms, pesticide, harmful chemical, and heavy metal contaminants, harmful additives, irradiation, and genetic engineering.
Soil & Health believes that government intervention and regulation are required to ensure that everyone has access to a healthy, balanced diet, and the knowledge and means with which to make the best food choices.
Soil & Health supports:
Healthy food being available in all public institutions such as early childhood centres, schools, hospitals, retirement homes and prisons.
Education in schools about healthy diets and nutrition.
A greater emphasis on primary and preventive health care.
To know our food is safe and free from contamination and harmful residues is a fundamental human right. However the right to know exactly what we are eating is often taken away and even routinely denied to us. While growing our own food or buying local and organic food remains the best way to ensure we know what we are eating, we must also know what has been sprayed onto crops and soil, added to foods, and used in the processing of the food we purchase.
Soil & Health is committed to advocating for clear and honest food labelling in Aotearoa New Zealand. We believe that transparent food labelling is fundamental in allowing people to make informed choices.
We stand for:
Country-of-origin labelling.
Labelling of the origin and production method for all meat, eggs and dairy products used in any food, and the source of all seafood. The country where the product is processed should also be identified.
All oils (e.g. palm oil, canola etc.) being specifically declared as an ingredient where used, not just as a ‘vegetable oil’.
Regulations and guidelines on claims about natural, sustainable, locally produced, fairly traded, and organic, being developed to ensure that people are not misled or deceived.
GE foods or foods containing GE ingredients being labelled as including or containing GE ingredients.
Labelling of any irradiated food or food ingredient.
GE-Free Zones partially protected in RMA amendments
/in GM, Media Releases5th April 2017
The Soil & Health Association welcomes a change to the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill regarding genetic engineering, but says it still does not go far enough.
Yesterday the controversial RLA Bill passed the committee stage, meaning that amendments can no longer be made to the Bill. The Bill is now expected to have its third and final reading on Thursday.
However the controversial section 360D – known as ‘the dictator’ clause – has not been removed from the final version of the RLA Bill. This clause allows the Minister for the Environment to bypass parliament and make fundamental changes to the law if he deems council plans duplicate or deal with the same subject matter as central Government laws. Instead section 360D now contains an exemption that prevents the minister from imposing GM crops on regions that want their territorites to remain GM Free.
“We are pleased that the Maori Party has stood strong on their promises not to support the changes that would have allowed the Minister to strike out GE-free zones. We commend the Maori Party for this,” says Soil & Health chair Marion Thomson.
While section 360D is still in the final version of the Bill, the exemption means that the Minister cannot strike out GE-free zones.
“The word ‘crop’ has a wide definition and we understand that the Maori Party secured the amendment on the basis that the term also covers grasses and forestry, while the term ‘growing’ could also cover field trials and releases,” says Thomson.
Of concern for Soil & Health however is that the exemption does not apply to animals, meaning the Minister could override local authorities on any decisions about GE animals if he chose to.
“We have been kept on the edge of our seats through this long process and have had to keep faith in the Maori Party that they would do the right thing and not support the amendments that would abolish GM-free zones,” says Thomson.
“Ultimately we are happy with this result, while animals are not covered, GM grasses, forestry, field trials and releases are.”
Contact: Karen Summerhays
Spokesperson, Soil & Health Association
021 043 7858
GE-FREE ZONES UNDER THREAT FROM RMA AMENDMENT
/in GEThe Government seems hell-bent on denying the rights of communities to have GE-free zones, which are under threat from a ‘dictator clause’, says the Soil & Health Association.
“We are continuing to stand by all the communities around New Zealand who, quite rightly, want to have control over what happens with GMOs in their regions,” said Marion Thomson, chair of Soil & Health.
Yesterday Parliament heard the second reading of the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill, which contains proposals that would allow Minister for the Environment Nick Smith to strip councils of their ability to create GE-Free food producing zones.
The Local Government and Environment Select Committee report on the Bill was released last week with the controversial section 360D still in the Bill.
Section 360D – known as ‘the dictator’ or ‘Henry VIII’ clause – would allow the Minister to bypass parliament and make fundamental changes to the law if he deems council plans duplicate or deal with the same subject matter as central Government laws.
Of further concern to the Soil & Health Association is the introduction of a new section – 43A(3A) – that would give the Minister another avenue to strike out local GE-free zones.
This new amendment was introduced at the select committee stage, meaning it wasn’t made available for public consultation.
“This latest move runs firmly against principles of natural justice and the democratic right of the public to have their say on matters that affect them,” said Marion Thomson.
The environment minister is looking to the Maori Party for the votes needed to get these anti-democratic provisions through.
However, during the reading yesterday Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox declared that they support achieving a GE Free New Zealand and that this has always been their policy.
In a letter to the Minister in December last year the Maori Party stated that it does not support changes to the RMA “if they extend to allowing the Minister to overrule a provision in a plan, for example, to have a GMO Free Zone.”
The Far North and Whangarei District Councils as well as Auckland Council have all prohibited the outdoor release of GMOs via their local plans, creating a GE-Free northern peninsula from the Bombay Hills to Cape Reinga.
“These council decisions have been driven by local communities and the mana whenua and iwi authorities in the regions. The Maori Party has made firm promises to stand by communities that want their territories to be GMO Free. We are confident that they will not go back on their word and that they will vote against the 360D and 43A clauses,” says Thomson.
Note to editors:
Nick Smith’s view that the EPA, not local councils, can control the release of GMOs has been found wrong by both the Environment Court and the High Court which have ruled that there is jurisdiction under the Resource Management Act for local councils to control the outdoor use of GMOs via regional policy instruments. The EPA approves, approves with controls, or turns down applications for genetically engineered organisms under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act. Councils can control, restrict or ban GMOs within their territories, under the RMA.
Contact: Marion Thomson
Chair, Soil & Health Association
027 555 4014
Photo credit: Nick Holmes
Maori organics and Te Tiriti o Waitangi
/in PoliciesLong 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:
Healthy Soil
/in PoliciesThe 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
/in Education and KnowledgeEducation 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.
Pesticides
/in Campaigns, GlyphosateConventional 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
/in Farming and HorticultureAgriculture 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.
Clean waterways
/in Health, WaterNew 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
Safe food
/in Food, Health and FoodThere are increasing levels of diet-related health issues in Aotearoa New Zealand. Many illnesses have been linked to food including diabetes, attention deficit disorder, fertility problems, thyroid disorders, obesity, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Aotearoa New Zealand has the third highest adult obesity rate in the OECD and one in ten children are obese. The majority of people in the developed world eats excessive quantities of highly processed pre-packaged foods and have no idea about the number of harmful chemicals they are exposed to every day through the food they eat. Many pesticides have been consistently linked to cancers and other long-term illnesses.
Micronutrients are essential for good health but are commonly lacking or diminished in industrially produced food. This has led to a demand for safe, organic food free of harmful chemicals. There is a growing awareness of food and how it determines health. People are now becoming more aware of what is in our food and demanding to know how it is grown.
The Soil & Health Association believes that everyone has a right to safe food, which covers the right to have food free from:
Microbial contamination, harmful organisms, pesticide, harmful chemical, and heavy metal contaminants, harmful additives, irradiation, and genetic engineering.
Soil & Health believes that government intervention and regulation are required to ensure that everyone has access to a healthy, balanced diet, and the knowledge and means with which to make the best food choices.
Soil & Health supports:
Healthy food being available in all public institutions such as early childhood centres, schools, hospitals, retirement homes and prisons.
Education in schools about healthy diets and nutrition.
A greater emphasis on primary and preventive health care.
Photo credit: Nick Holmes
Food labelling
/in Food, Health and FoodTo know our food is safe and free from contamination and harmful residues is a fundamental human right. However the right to know exactly what we are eating is often taken away and even routinely denied to us. While growing our own food or buying local and organic food remains the best way to ensure we know what we are eating, we must also know what has been sprayed onto crops and soil, added to foods, and used in the processing of the food we purchase.
Soil & Health is committed to advocating for clear and honest food labelling in Aotearoa New Zealand. We believe that transparent food labelling is fundamental in allowing people to make informed choices.
We stand for:
Country-of-origin labelling.
Labelling of the origin and production method for all meat, eggs and dairy products used in any food, and the source of all seafood. The country where the product is processed should also be identified.
All oils (e.g. palm oil, canola etc.) being specifically declared as an ingredient where used, not just as a ‘vegetable oil’.
Regulations and guidelines on claims about natural, sustainable, locally produced, fairly traded, and organic, being developed to ensure that people are not misled or deceived.
GE foods or foods containing GE ingredients being labelled as including or containing GE ingredients.
Labelling of any irradiated food or food ingredient.
Labelling standards for animal welfare claims.
Photo credit: Nick Holmes