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.
beef
There is certified organic beef in New Zealand supermarkets. Most people walk past it, because the brand that sells it also sells five kinds of beef that aren't organic. Here's where to buy it and how to spot it.
the month in food
August ran on grain: a malthouse closing, a bread process from 1961, a mark worth four cents a loaf, and Bürgen off the shelves inside a week. Plus what a cow is given in its lifetime, why mince costs what it does, and two people in Riverton with 400 apple varieties.
I buy organic chocolate where I can find it, which is how an 85% Alter Eco bar came home from Commonsense this week. Classic Blackout. Deep blue box, cacao trees on the front, a white circle with the brand in it. I turned it over and decided it was Australian.
Organic Wine
New Zealand's ninth Organic Wine Week runs 21 to 27 September. Over 70 certified organic wines from 25 producers pour at the Auckland tasting, with more events being added. Here's what's on, what organic certification changes in the vineyard and the winery, and whether it costs you more.
dairy
A tube of antibiotic into each quarter of the udder, every cow, every year. Most of them had no serious infection. Here's why it happened, and why it's getting much harder to do.
apples
Robert and Robyn Guyton have grafted and grown hundreds of apple varieties rescued from old Southland orchards. Meanwhile the apples in the shop are licensed assets with royalty streams. Two gene pools, two very different futures.
beef
Nobody is hiding what your beef was given. Nobody is telling you either. I went looking for the record and found a form that only asks about right now.
food prices
A reader asked how much of the $10 he pays for a dozen eggs reaches the farmer and how much the supermarket clips. Nobody in the article was asked. Three economists explained record food prices, and every cause they named sat somewhere no New Zealander can reach.
beef
I stood in front of the mince cabinet and photographed the shelf tags. The cheapest was $21.99 a kilo. The most expensive was $33.98. Both were mince.
