Minister’s myopic foresight short of organic 20 20 vision
The Government’s organic vision is about as good as that of a Pukekohe potato, says Green MP and Agriculture Spokesperson Nandor Tanczos. “At least potatoes have eyes for a reason.”
In response to questions in parliament yesterday, Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton demonstrated the indifference of the Government’s approach to organic production, despite their willingness to take the credit for Green Party initiated funding for organics.
“The New Zealand Government is increasingly out of step with the international recognition of the contribution organic farming methods can make to sustainability. Only one quarter of one percent of our agricultural land is in organic production, compared to 19 percent in Sweden,” Nandor says.
The Green Party has called for the State Owned Enterprise Landcorp – the country’s biggest farmer – to convert 50 percent of its farms to organic production methods by 2020 to further the goal of sustainability and carbon neutrality.
“Everything else being equal, organic production systems will have lower environmental impacts, because they don’t depend on the fossil fuel dependent fertilisers and toxic pesticides that conventional farming practices use and they build humus and living soils which store carbon. There can be no argument that the less endosulfan, antibiotics and growth hormones in the food chain, the better.
“Increasing numbers of farmers clearly see the environmental and economic benefits of a move towards organics, even if the Government does not. There is excellent profit potential for sheep and beef farmers given the strong demand for organic meat and wool, while the returns to conventional farmers have been depressed.
A recent report by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation states that: “Organic agriculture has the potential to secure a global food supply, just as conventional agriculture is today, but with reduced environmental impact.”
The report calls on Governments to “allocate resources for organic agriculture and to integrate its objectives and actions within their national agricultural development”.
Reference: http://www.greens.org.nz/audio/NandorOrganics241007.mp3