Organic Food NZ
New Zealand's organic sector just hit $1.18 billion. Exports are growing at nearly double the rate of the wider primary sector. But buried in the same report is a figure that changes the story: a 78% collapse in new farm conversions. Here's what the data actually means for the domestic food system.
food security
Wattie's and McCain are closing. Marsden Point is rubble. The trams are gone. New Zealand keeps dismantling what works — and calling the rebuild progress. This needs to stop.
organic certification
The word "organic" has no legal protection in New Zealand. Here's what the certification marks actually mean, who issues them, and what sits outside the system entirely.
eggs
The egg aisle looks like healthy competition — eight brands, a range of prices, lots of welfare claims. Follow the ownership trails and it's more concentrated than it appears.
Food System
Wattie's has said "NZ's Favourite" since 1934. The company behind it has been American since 1992. This is the story of how brand trust gets bought, transferred and quietly spent — and why your KiwiSaver might be funding the whole thing.
water
What I found when I started researching rural water — and why it matters before you make the move.
water
What's actually in your water, what happens to it between the treatment plant and your glass, and why understanding that changed what I do about it.
water
Most Aucklanders assume their water comes from clean bush catchments. About 15 percent comes from the Waikato River — 400 kilometres through dairy farms, geothermal country, and industrial towns. Here's what that means.
Little Farms
A former solicitor, a no-dig garden, and eleven Wairarapa farms working together. Little Farms just aired on Country Calendar — here's everything you need to know.
glyphosate
April 2026 testing found glyphosate in six of eight supermarket breads — highest in the wholegrain and seed-heavy loaves many of us choose for health. But the real story is what those everyday exposures may be doing to your gut bacteria.
organic certification
New Zealand exports its premium food to the world and imports cheaper alternatives to fill the gap. Underneath that paradox sit several interconnected debates — the GE Technology Bill, glyphosate residues, imported food standards, and what organic certification can and can't protect.
food system infrastructure
When the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed in March, it didn't just disrupt oil. A third of the world's fertiliser trade moved through that channel. NZ farming is feeling it.
