chlorine tap water
Does Chlorine in Tap Water Affect Your Gut Microbiome?
Chlorine is in your tap water to kill pathogens. The question researchers have started asking is what it does once you drink it. The answer is genuinely unsettled.
Organic Food NZ
NZ's Organic Sector Just Hit $1.18 Billion. So Why Is the Pipeline Shrinking?
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
Can New Zealand Feed Itself?
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
What Does the Organic Label Actually Mean?
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 simple. It isn't.
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
Who owns your lunch
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
If You're On Tank or Bore Water, Nobody Is Checking For You
What I found when I started researching rural water — and why it matters before you make the move.
water
Why I Bought An RO Filter
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
What's Actually In Auckland's Tap 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
Little Farms and the quiet case for doing it differently
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
Beyond the Bread Test: Glyphosate Residues, Your Gut Microbiome, and What You Can Actually Do About It
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
The Clean Green Country That Imports Its Dinner
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.
