> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.organicfoodtogether.nz/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # A Michelin-Starred Chef Would Rather Hear About the Farmer's Breakfast - URL: https://www.organicfoodtogether.nz/a-michelin-starred-chef-would-rather-hear-about-the-farmers-breakfast/ - Published: 2026-10-27T17:31:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-27T17:31:00.000Z - Description: Ben Bayly finds chefs talking about themselves boring. On the From the Soil Up podcast he talks about lamb, wallaby, wild deer, a Westland cranberry farm and one certified organic asparagus grower near Cambridge. Here's who's talking, and why it's worth an hour. - Author: Luke Nicholas - Tags: Podcasts, provenance, farming, asparagus, Ben Bayly, Michelin Guide, Conan Moynihan, From the Soil Up Ben Bayly doesn't want to hear how long your fish sat in clarified butter. He told the [From the Soil Up podcast](https://forceofnaturepodcast.podbean.com/e/ep-63-ben-bayly-on-building-new-zealands-culinary-identity/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz) that he finds that kind of restaurant storytelling boring. He'd rather know what the farmer had for breakfast. That's an odd thing to hear from a chef with a Michelin star. It's also the way into an hour of two people working out why New Zealand sells its food short. ## Who is Conan Moynihan? Conan Moynihan hosts the show. He grew up on his family's [sheep and beef farm at Cave, in South Canterbury](https://www.farmax.co.nz/blog/post/139261/playing-the-international-game-and-telling-the-kiwi-farming-story/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz). He worked on it during and after university. At 25 he couldn't see how to take the farm over while also funding his parents' retirement and buying out his siblings. So he went into environmental work, which led him back to agriculture. He describes himself as [a former farmer and environmental engineer](https://www.undergroundfestival.co.nz/2026-speakers/conan-moynihan?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz). He set up Force of Nature Consulting, a farm consultancy. Its website now says that work has [moved to Groundshift](https://forceofnatureconsulting.com/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz), a farm advisory business focused on biology-led farm systems, which Conan co-founded and runs as chief executive. Groundshift also sponsors the podcast. In late 2024 he told Farmax he still [hopes to own a farm of his own](https://www.farmax.co.nz/blog/post/139261/playing-the-international-game-and-telling-the-kiwi-farming-story/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz) one day. ## What the podcast is It started in March 2024 as the Force of Nature Podcast. The first interview went out on [7 March 2024](https://forceofnaturepodcast.podbean.com/e/episode-1-%5F-jamie-elizondo-part-1/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz), with Texas grazing consultant Jim Elizondo. In February 2026 Conan [renamed it From the Soil Up](https://forceofnaturepodcast.podbean.com/e/ep-44-from-force-of-nature-to-from-the-soil-up-the-story-behind-the-shift/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz). He said the message hadn't changed, but the conversation had grown. It started with soil health and farming systems. It now covers the whole food system, including human health, business and leadership. Most guests are farmers, scientists and advisers. Recent episodes have covered [fifty years of fertiliser and water quality](https://forceofnaturepodcast.podbean.com/e/50-years-of-soil-fertiliser-water-quality-what-have-we-learned-bert-quin-ep-68/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz) with Bert Quin, and [animal nutrition](https://forceofnaturepodcast.podbean.com/e/are-we-feeding-the-animal-or-the-rumen-dr-lucy-waldron-ep-67/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz) with Dr Lucy Waldron. Episode 71 went out on [20 October 2026](https://open.spotify.com/show/0Eq32iItva57GnKQ5fIhTe?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz). A chef is the odd one out on that list. That's why this episode works. ## Who is Ben Bayly? Bayly grew up in [Te Awamutu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben%5FBayly?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz). His father's side of the family were dairy farmers, and he went to Te Awamutu College. On the podcast he says his dad worked at the local dairy factory for his whole career. He spent [nearly ten years overseas](https://www.teawamutunews.nz/2026/07/bayly-gets-a-michelin-star/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz), working in Michelin-starred restaurants in London and France. He opened Ahi in [Commercial Bay, Auckland, in September 2020](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben%5FBayly?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz). He is also a judge on My Kitchen Rules NZ. When the first Michelin Guide for New Zealand was announced on [30 June 2026](https://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/dining-out/michelin-new-zealand-2026/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz), Ahi was one of fifteen restaurants to get a star. Bayly also got Michelin's Mindful Voices award. He makes A New Zealand Food Story, a TV series he describes as a [showcase for the people who grow and produce our food](https://www.teawamutunews.nz/2026/07/bayly-gets-a-michelin-star/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz). ## What they talked about The episode runs just over an hour. Conan asks short questions. Bayly gives long answers and apologises twice for rambling. Neither apology is necessary. Michelin Star Chef Ben Bayly: Why New Zealand Is Undervaluing Its Own Food **We have no food legacy (from 2:00).** Italy and France built regional dishes over a very long time. New Zealand hasn't had that, so Bayly hangs his menu on the people who grow the food instead. When his kids had a culture day at school and asked what to wear, his best suggestion was a Chiefs jersey. **Wallaby on a hot rock (from 4:30).** On a hunt in the Hunter Hills he cooked wallaby on a stone pulled from a stream. Ahi later served the dish on a red-hot rock. Conan grew up near there. Bayly calls wild game about the healthiest protein you can eat. He says farmers with wild deer, pigs or goats running on their land mostly can't sell the meat, because of the rules. **Cheap lamb in a French freezer (from 13:30).** Conan raises a Central Otago farm hit when Australian lamb flooded the world market during a drought. Bayly remembers New Zealand lamb shanks sitting in the cheapest corner of French hypermarket freezers. His point is that our farmers are price takers because nobody tells the story. Welsh salt marsh lamb tells one, and charges for it. He adds that grass-fed is normal here and unusual in much of the world. **A cranberry farm that sold out (from 31:50).** Westland's cranberry grower was struggling. After their episode of the show aired, they emailed to say they'd sold out. **Beef sold direct (from 33:30).** Bayly's favourite example is Jamie and Nikki's farm. They get their meat back from the abattoir and sell it directly to shops and restaurants, which makes them, in Bayly's words, price makers rather than takers. Their calves stay with their mothers for months. They still can't send Ahi as much as it wants. **Fewer vegetables (from 38:40).** Since Covid, he says, growers are trialling fewer varieties and growing more of the safe ones. He mentions a four-acre garden with six staff working it, and says they still need more. **The numbers (from 46:30).** He thinks growing onions is riskier than running a restaurant. A restaurant at least takes the money before the customer leaves. **What he wants (from 58:00).** New Zealand famous for its food. Near the end he mentions a new venture, a way for people to buy from his producers instead of going through a supermarket. ## Why it matters if you buy organic Bayly never makes the case for organic directly. He's relaxed about feedlots, as it happens. But his whole argument is that a product's value lives in its story. Organic certification is a story somebody has checked. The one grower he holds up as an example of organics checks out. Bill Cummings grows asparagus near Cambridge, with his son Hadyn running the vegetables. Bayly says they are the only white asparagus grower in the country. Their business is Greenfern, and its asparagus is [certified organic by BioGro](https://biogroportal.powerappsportals.com/certified-products/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz). Greenfern sells the way Jamie and Nikki do: direct. It trades [every week at the Hamilton and Cambridge farmers markets](https://www.waikatofarmersmarkets.co.nz/shop/product/463045/vegetables/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz). If this episode gets you curious, try [episode 52](https://forceofnaturepodcast.podbean.com/e/ep-52-do-the-numbers-stack-up-organic-and-regenerative-farming-with-kenneth-rachel-short-and-mark-laura-koopmans/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz) next. It's a live panel from the Underground Festival in February 2026, and the question is whether the numbers stack up. Rachel and Kenneth Short started converting their coastal Taranaki dairy farms to organic in 2015, and supply Fonterra's organic programme. Rachel says DairyBase figures showed Fonterra's organic farmers were 33% more profitable than conventional North Island owner-operators in 2023/24\. The Shorts say they'd farm this way even without the premium. They're getting it anyway, and it's growing. For the 2025-26 season, Fonterra paid its organic farmers [about 46% more per kilo of milk solids](https://www.organicfoodtogether.nz/fonterra-organic-milk-price-record-2026/) than it paid for conventional milk. The gap roughly doubled in a single season. The other couple, Mark and Laura Koopmans, farm sheep and beef regeneratively near Kaikoura. Mark says cutting fertiliser out saved them $70,000 in a single year. ## Where to listen The episode is on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IxvSsw1Lc4&ref=organicfoodtogether.nz), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/09PtC8aeULRpXelVDmOFqH?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz) and [Podbean](https://forceofnaturepodcast.podbean.com/e/ep-63-ben-bayly-on-building-new-zealands-culinary-identity/?ref=organicfoodtogether.nz). It runs 65 minutes. Greenfern is at the Hamilton and Cambridge markets every week. Asparagus season doesn't hang around. --- **Before you go:** If you found this useful, you can [sign up here](https://www.organicfoodtogether.nz/#/portal/signup) for free, or leave a [one-off tip](https://www.organicfoodtogether.nz/#/portal/support) if you'd like to support the work.