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,…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
Everyone should be able to access affordable, safe and nutritious food that is produced in a way that enhances the environment. The Soil & Health Association is committed to strengthening food sovereignty in Aotearoa New Zealand by: Supporting the right to food as recognised by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Acknowledging Te Tiriti o…
Agriculture, poorly executed, is one of the largest contributors to climate change. In Aotearoa New Zealand nearly 50% of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by agriculture. Agriculture can contribute to climate change through the use of synthetic fertilisers, which tend to burn up carbon in the soil, destabilize soil microbe populations and release nitrous oxide….
Agriculture is one of humankind’s most basic activities because all people need to nourish themselves daily. It is therefore also the biggest way we as humans affect the world around us. Agriculture however, poorly executed, is one of the largest contributors to climate change and is the greatest immediate threat to species and ecosystems around…