beef
New Zealand's grass-fed beef is marketed to us as a premium, ethical choice. To McDonald's, it solves an entirely different problem: America doesn't produce enough lean meat to make its own burgers. Here's what that means for the "grass-fed" label, and for organic beef that can't find a buyer.
organic sector
Australia has the most organic farmland on earth. Liechtenstein has the highest share. Switzerland spends the most. India has the most farmers and one of the smallest organic markets anywhere. And the sales keep rising while the land stopped growing.
pork
A parliamentary committee found bacon labelling could mislead consumers. Three years on, the government has confirmed nothing will change. Here's the regulatory fight, and what compliant welfare standards actually cost a NZ pig farm.
organic sector
There's a story about organic food that says it's what rich people buy. New Zealand's own sector data says otherwise: most frequent organic buyers here are in households earning under $100,000, and the same middle-income pattern shows up across seven countries.
ownership
New Zealand's commercial grower count has fallen from 7,000 to 4,300 in 20 years, and its produce wholesalers may drop from three to two. Inside the Commerce Commission's Statement of Issues on the J&P Turner and T&G Fresh merger, and what it means for growers.
Bananas
A sign in an organic shop said imported fruit is often fumigated. I went and read the rules. Bananas have their own line in the treatment schedule, and the chemical is hydrogen cyanide. How often it is used, nobody will say.
Health
Health is the reason most people give for buying organic. I went looking for what's actually been measured, across long-running population studies, systematic reviews and one real randomised trial, and laid it out with the caveats attached. Not a verdict. Just the evidence, honestly weighed.
seed
The seed stand at your garden centre looks like a dozen competing brands. Four of them are contracted through one family business in New Plymouth that imports from eight countries. Here is where the names actually go, and what a packet will never tell you.
newsletter
A subscriber asked for one email a week instead of one per post. Fair enough. There's now a weekly round-up, and you can pick which you get.
seed
New Zealand's largest certified organic seed supplier says about 10% of its range is grown here. So where does the rest come from, and who is actually growing seed in this country? Six suppliers, and what each will tell you.
organic
Three owners worked this ground south of Oamaru, and one grower stayed through all of them. The last company was wound up this year, and nobody can tell me whether the certification survived.
dairy
New Zealand's state farmer just made a record profit. Most people don't know it exists, or that it runs the country's largest organic dairy operation. The reason goes back to a century of land ballots, and ends with cull cows certified for the American market.
