Aotearoa’s 10 Best Organic Stories of 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic transcended virtually everything in 2020, from bringing a temporary dip in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions to greater awareness of the link between human health and soil health.
It presented us with an opportunity to evaluate how we live our lives and what we value as the most important, helping to raise consumer awareness of the relationship between nutrition and health.
This, in turn, has been a boon to organic food producers, with sales increasing in double digits and outpacing conventional produce sales.
We’ve curated ten of Aotearoa’s biggest organic news stories of 2020 — from bolstered international sales to unprecedented payouts on milk.
'I will miss her dearly': Former Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons has died
Green Party politicians mourned the loss of the party's first female co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons. Fitzsimons was a New Zealand politician and environmentalist and a former co-leader of the Greens.
"Starting out in the Values Party in the 1970s, through to entering Parliament as part of the Alliance in 1996 and becoming the only Green to ever win an electorate seat in 1999, Jeanette was a ground breaker in Green politics,” said prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
Read the article in full here.
Organic milk payout for 2019-20 season tops $10/kgMS
Fonterra’s organic farmers have become the first in the country to receive a double-digit milk payout. The cooperative’s 60 organic suppliers last season have set a record price for cow milk in New Zealand at $10.19/kgMS.
“This is a fantastic result for organic dairy in New Zealand, it sets a new benchmark for the value of our premium New Zealand grass-fed dairy products,” said Andrew Henderson, Fonterra’s global business manager organics.
Read the article in full here.
Pesticides in fruit and vege
More than 300 pesticides are approved for use on fruit and vege grown in New Zealand. However, some of the products we’re using have been banned in other countries because of their toxicity. With our rules lagging behind, these chemicals can turn up in our food.
“We tested 16 locally grown fruit and vege, both organically and conventionally grown, for more than 200 pesticides. Sixteen pesticides were detected, nine of which are banned in the EU,” said Belinda Castles, Research & test writer for Consumer.org.nz.
Read the article in full here.
'It’s causing massive problems' - Beekeeper says nothing can be done to stop NZ bees picking up traces of weed-killer glyphosate
The weed-killer glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in products like Round-Up, has been found in more than 20 percent of honey tested by New Zealand officials.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) first found small traces of the weed-killer glyphosate in 22.3 percent of the samples taken from a range of different honey types across the country. It later discovered further tiny traces in 11 of 60 mānuka honey products purchased from retail outlets.
“All it takes is for consumers to kick up a fuss and it would change overnight. If people actually wanted it changed, it could change immediately,” said Cantabrian beekeeper Steven Brown.
Read the article in full here.
You have pesticides in your body. But an organic diet can reduce them by 70%
A new peer-reviewed study monitored pesticide levels in four American families for six days on a non-organic diet and six days on a completely organic diet. Switching to an organic diet decreased levels of Roundup’s toxic main ingredient, glyphosate, by 70% in just six days.
“That’s good news, but it raises a grave question: why do we have to be supermarket detectives, searching for organic labels to ensure we’re not eating food grown with glyphosate or hundreds of other toxic pesticides?”, asks Kendra Klein and Anna Lappé for The Guardian.
Read the article in full here.
Young farmers pumping out six times as many delivery boxes as usual
Dominique Schacherer, co-owner of the Spring Collective, a 16-hectare market garden in Leeston, said orders for their curated boxes had sky-rocketed, with bookings growing from 40 to 250 weekly boxes in a handful of days.
“People want organic produce and they're so much more aware of what's going into their food and how it's being made, I think that's why we're constantly seeing such an increase in demand,” says Schacherer.
Read the article in full here.
Coronavirus creates demand for NZ organic apples
While many New Zealand primary producer exporters are hurting from the effect of coronavirus in China, the outbreak has created extra demand for New Zealand organic apples.
“New Zealand is a trusted source in a situation which is unfolding like this. Organics create another layer of trust for the Chinese consumer,” says ,Jane Maclean, Bostock International Trader.
Read the article in full here.
Māori orchardists capitalise on global demand for organic produce
Māori orchardist Otama Marere has embraced organic kiwifruit production, converting a total of seven hectares of its 45-hectare block into organic SunGold kiwifruit, with further conversions being considered.
“Sustainability has been a big factor within the industry for some time and from this, the trustees looked to the organic market when acquiring further kiwifruit," says Homman Tapsell, orchard manager.
Read the article in full here.
A good harvest
Maureen Howard talks to a new generation of organic market gardeners who have created a living by going local, small and intensive.
"To me what we’re seeing now with all the massive global challenges we’ve got, people are asking questions and a lot of the time many of the problems come back at agriculture’s door," says Dr Charles Merfield, organic college tutor and research manager at the BHU Organics Trust.
Read the article in full here.
New sheep breed key to organic success for Southland family
Imagine a breed of sheep that requires no dagging, shearing, vaccinations or dipping. It is highly fertile, lives a reproductive life of 15 years or more and puts all of its energy into producing meat.
"A lot of the modern breeds of sheep are heavily reliant on chemicals to keep them alive; they don't do well in an organic system. The Shire breed has been the key to us not just surviving in an organic farming system, but thriving," says Tim and Helen Gow and their family at Mangapiri Downs organic stud farm.
Read the article in full here.