Food Archive

• 

  38 Genetically engineered ingredients in our food

  
  
  
  Over the past decade four large multinational corporations -Monsanto, Aventis, Syngenta, Dow Agro Sciences, have been quietly applying for approval to add more and more genetically engineered ingredients into our food. read more
  December 10, 2009 10:09 am - 6 Comments
• 

  The brand vs battery cows

  
  
  
  This is how we present our butter to the world: “Only our cows are free to roam all day long. Anchor – the free range butter company”. And this is cubicle factory dairy production – the battery cow. Or this: Cognitive dissonance anyone? read more
  December 9, 2009 7:56 pm - 62 Comments
• 

  Herd homes vs cubicles like home vs prison

  
  
  
  Have you ever felt that after a long day inside a building you just have to get out and feel the sun and breathe some air? I guess not being able to do that is one  of the punishments the prison system imposes on offenders. But even they get an hour or so out in [...] read more
  December 9, 2009 3:35 pm - 11 Comments
• 

  Think our native forests were safe? Think again.

  
  
  
  “Agricultural intensification over the past 10 years has led to the highest rate of native vegetation loss since European colonisation.” Landcare Research Annual Report read more
  November 2, 2009 11:29 am - 18 Comments
• 

  Mohaka needs you!

  
  
  
  The Dompost on Saturday reported that a debate about landuse and water quality is deepening in the Hawkes Bay. The Mohaka River has a Water Conservation Order on it. However its quality is declining. One tributary comes from the volcanic plateau where land has been converted from forests to industrial-sized dairy farms. read more
  September 21, 2009 3:30 pm - 11 Comments
• 

  World Bank Goes Green?

  
  
  
  Sometimes something really good happens. The World Bank has withdrawn funding for the palm oil sector including the Wilmar company that supplies [PDF] palm kernel to Fonterra. The World Bank is not satisfied that the palm plantations they loaned to in parts of the developing world met acceptable standards for sustainability. Congratulations to the Forest Peoples [...] read more
  September 14, 2009 12:22 pm - 74 Comments
• 

  Feds’ selective with the science on water quality

  
  
  
  Here’s one that left me speechless with incredulity… Fed Farmers Dairy chairman Lachlan McKenzie addressed the organisation’s AGM  yesterday and made some quite ridiculous and irresponsible comments on the progress that farmers have made in cleaning up waterways. This time last year, Fish and Game New Zealand was calling on the government to regulate production in the [...] read more
  July 2, 2009 1:35 pm - 9 Comments
• 

  Reports a reminder of need for action on freshwater

  
  
  
  Two important studies revealing the state of our freshwater came out last week, and the news is disappointing. The first comes from NIWA, and updates water quality trends at the 77 National River Water Quality Network sites, which have been monitored over the last 20 years. The study confirmed that waterways flowing through farmland have higher [...] read more
  June 25, 2009 3:40 pm - 5 Comments
• 

  Whaling, redefining the verb

  
  
  
  The International Whaling Commission is meeting this week in Portugal. NZ is ably represented by former Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and, according to news reports, he is “respectfully urging” Japan to lift its threat to hunt humpback whales in the Antarctic. The ODT reports he told the IWC: new evidence about the endangered status of humpbacks in [...] read more
  June 25, 2009 9:41 am - 5 Comments
• 

  Greenpeace’s new fishing video

  
  
  
  This new vid from Greenpeace features TV fishing personality and extreme stunt fisherman Matt Watson talks about fishing and sustainability, echoing what Metiria Turei wrote on World Oceans Day. read more
  June 23, 2009 3:03 pm - 2 Comments