KAIWAKA ORGANICS NEWSLETTER

FEBRUARY 2012

FRUIT TREES

WE still have a good choice of eating and cooking apple trees in stock. These are all potted, which means that they are easier to transport, and if you prefer to wait until the weather cools down before you plant them they are happy in the pots for a good few months.

There are also some robust potted peach trees.

The apples and peach trees have been reduced from $36.50 to $32.50.

THE NZ FOOD BILL 160-2 - A HARD ACT TO SWALLOW

While few would argue that our 30 year old food safety regulations are due for a make-over, the Food Bill that is poised to replace them is seriously heavy handed.

The Bill has been through the First Reading and the submission process. The Primary Production Select Committee has reported back. The next stage, the Second Reading, will most likely happen when  parliament sits again in February. There are several disturbing aspects to this bill.

When it has been reported in the media we are given the impression that it is simply a toughening up of the original legislation in an effort to remedy the fact that ten years ago NZ was found to have the highest rate of food poisoning among developed countries.

In reality it is completely new legislation being imposed upon us. It is part of the ‘Codex Alimentarius’ which was originally a World Health Organisation and Food and Agricultural Organisation (part of the UN) initiative to globally standardise all aspects of health and food safety. But behind this are large international corporates – biotech, agribusiness, chemical and pharmaceutical interests. It is being used to control all aspects of global agriculture and food processing, and has little concern at its heart for our health and safety.

The fact that so few of us had even heard about the bill last year was because the call for submissions was made very quietly and there was hardly any reporting of it on television or in the papers. This also makes me suspicious.

If this bill goes through without the amendments that Sue Kedgely lobbied for but failed to gain before the election, here are some of the implications:

              growing and trading fruit and vegetables with your friends and neighbours would be illegal or subject to scrutiny

              saving and swapping seed would be illegal (in the UK and Germany it is now illegal to even sell heritage seed – would that be next?)

              having a Wwoofer (Willing Worker On Organic Farms) to stay would be illegal because you would be trading food for labour

              small produce growers and traders would need to pay a fee to be registered – this would push up the prices at Farmers Markets

              Food Safety Officers could raid any premises that store or process food without a search warrant, using whatever force deemed necessary and seize food and equipment. FS Officers would have immunity from criminal and civil prosecution. We would have no recourse through our legal system.

This sounds alarming , and we’re struggling to get our heads around it. I encourage you to do your own research and to look at the bill for yourselves. Just google: ‘nz food bill 160-2’. It is a dauntingly long document, and I’d be very surprised if even Kate Wilkinson (the Minister for Food Safety who is handling it) has read every section.

Steffan Browning of the Green party has been lobbying to have the time-frame for submissions extended. Given the implications of the bill I fully support this. If you think it’s a good idea too, email Kate Wilkinson and have your say: kate.wilkinson@national.org.nz

For background information on Codex Alimentarius you can view a talk by Dr Rima Laibow: ‘The end of Healthy Food, Minerals and Vitamins’ on YouTube.

If you go to that first, others will come up.

To give you some idea of how far-reaching and invasive this legislation could become, in the US it is already in place, and the rights of small farmers and food suppliers /processors are seriously under attack. Google: http://vimeo.com/16513455 to view the trailer of a documentary movie called ‘Farmageddon’. 

Our food sovereignty is under threat and I believe we need to speak up quickly to have The Food Bill radically modified before it passes into law. This bill is the price that the NZ government believes it has to pay for a Free Trade agreement with the US. We and many others believe the price is far too high!

If you would like more information you can email me: shop@kaiwakaorganics.co.nz or phone me at the shop: 4312732.

Romi Curl

Kaiwaka Organics