Organic NZ – September 2019

Promote • Educate
10 September/October 2019

News

Outgoing councillors Marion

Thomson and Moko Morris were

thanked for their contributions to

the Association, and Marion was

awarded a life membership for

her 16 years of service to Soil &

Health as a National Councillor,

and several years as a co-chair.

Also recognised were the other

candidates who stood for election,

and Soil & Health/Organic NZ

staff.

The AGM was held at Piko

Wholefoods in Christchurch, and

in the morning Bailey Peryman

hosted a walking tour of urban farming in

the central city.

Three new National Councillors

were elected to Soil & Health’s

National Council at the AGM in

July, bringing fresh energy and

new perspectives.

Jodie Bruning of Tauranga

is a pesticide researcher and

campaigner; Jenny Lux is an

organic market gardener at

Rotorua; and Peter Wells co-

ordinates the Ōtākaro Orchard

project in Christchurch. The

new councillors join Marion

Wood (Soil & Health chair),

Steffan Browning, Bailey

Peryman and Mike Ryan (who was re-

elected). Both of the remits were passed.

Help us create a safer, healthier, organic NZ!

Soil & Health campaign against glyphosate and toxic pesticides

Soil & Health is campaigning to phase out

glyphosate from our food, streets and parks,

and our 2019 annual appeal is focused on

this. Can you help?

We will also advocate setting standards

to stop similarly toxic herbicides taking the

place of glyphosate in future, and close up

the gaps in regulatory risk assessment for

pesticides in general (including herbicides).

Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs)

such as Roundup are the most heavily

used herbicides in Aotearoa New Zealand

• and use is increasing. The damaging
  effects of pesticides, including GBHs, on
  soil and human health have been a major
  concern to Soil & Health for decades.

Soil & Health revitalised at AGM

Evidence continues to accumulate that

GBHs pose multiple health risks, including

cancer and hormone disruption, and effects

can be transmitted through sperm to

grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Recent court cases in the USA have

found the pesticide manufacturer Monsanto,

now owned by Bayer Crop Science, guilty of

misrepresenting the toxicity of its GBHs,

and liable for tens of millions of dollars in

damages. Glyphosate use has been banned

or restricted in many regions, cities, towns

and villages around the world. This year

Austria’s Lower House of Parliament voted

to ban all uses of glyphosate-based herbicide

by 2020.

However, in New Zealand, GBHs have

never undergone a comprehensive risk

assessment. The only ‘assessment’ was

a review in 2016 by our Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA), which refuted

the 2015 findings of the International

Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC),

that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen.

Donate to Soil & Health’s 2019

annual appeal

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Above: Bostock New Zealand’s owner, John

Bostock, and organic growing manager, Sam

Reynolds, show their new home compostable

netting for their organic onions. The company

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this form of packaging. The netting is made

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home compostable to the European home

compostable standard EN13432. It will break

down within 90 days in a home compost, and

can also be put in a worm farm. The natural

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they are breathable and moisture regulating.

Above: Soil & Health National Councillors (left to right) Steffan Browning, Jodie Bruning, Peter

Wells, Marion Wood, Lucy Blackbourn (Association manager) and Mike Ryan. Absent: Jenny Lux

and Bailey Peryman. Photo: Philippa Jamieson

Above: Marion

Thomson was awarded

a life membership to

Soil & Health for 16

years’ service on the

National Council.

The EPA’s review was sharply criticised

for relying on industry data rather than

independent, evidence-based science.

For more information about our appeal,

including references, please go to: organicnz.

org.nz/support-us

Photo: iStock/Darkdiamond