farming

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Supermarket capitalism

Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, July 7th, 2010 - 72 comments

Supermarkets are squeezing producers while marking up the prices of fruit and vegetables by up to 500%. The worst side of capitalism in action. Support your local farmers’ market, and the Green’s call for a supermarket code of conduct.

You can’t drink shit

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, June 11th, 2010 - 25 comments

On Wednesday night John key was in Christchurch. He was met by protesters, angry at the abolition of democracy in Canterbury, and the plans of the newly installed dictatorship to allow over-farming to poison the water and kill the rivers. How did TV news handle the coverage? I think it’s fair to say that it was up to their usual standards…

ECan protest today

Written By: - Date published: 6:41 am, April 30th, 2010 - 23 comments

Live in Canterbury? Value democracy? What are you doing today after work? Come to the ECan protest, 5:30 pm @ ECan office 58 Kilmore St. Because Canterbury is only the beginning…

Another hand-out for bludgers

Written By: - Date published: 9:09 am, April 26th, 2010 - 98 comments

Our glorious capitalist system should mean farms that can’t handle a bad time fail. Just like any other business. Land gets used for something better. It’s the market. But capitalists don’t really believe in the market. Come the bad times, the farmers want another hand out. So government’s giving them the dole. Yup, the dole.

Canterbury’s dictators

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, April 23rd, 2010 - 91 comments

No Right Turn’s typically forthright take on the sacking of the ECan councillors and the makeup of the government’s appointed directors.

If smiles equaled FTAs Key wouldn’t be a do nothing PM

Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, April 18th, 2010 - 7 comments

Journos. Obama didn’t meet Key before dinner on a big stage in front of the media because it was just practical. The leaders didn’t stand with awkward grins for the group photo because it was a crucial step in the diplomatic process. This is being done for you. Only you. It is meaningless apart from the fact they know the media will lap it up. They think you’re saps. And you keep proving them right.

Pig Code of Welfare – last day to send submissions

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 am, April 16th, 2010 - 18 comments

Today is the last day to send in your submission on NAWAC’s draft Code of Welfare for Pigs. New Zealand Open Rescue have put out a new video containing footage from many different farms around the country, to remind you why it is important to have your say. You can send a submission using SAFE’s template at www.lovepigs.org.nz.

People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones

Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, April 8th, 2010 - 24 comments

Recently, and for good reason, New Zealanders and the media have objected to companies using palm oil due the deforestation caused by the palm oil industry. For New Zealand to take such a stance, when our diary industry has a similarly devastating impact on the environment, is hypocritical. We need to clean up our own act if we’re going to criticise others.

Ethical meat on its way

Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, December 4th, 2009 - 20 comments

Jon Stewart covers developments in the science around making meat without raising and killing an animal. Jon has a laugh of course but this is actually really exciting stuff. I’ve been following the developing science around this for a while. The upsides are huge. You can grow meat without the animal. That means no sow […]

Bludging farmers

Written By: - Date published: 3:51 pm, November 19th, 2009 - 55 comments

The Fed Farmers have used Goff’s speech on monetary policy to have another whinge about beneficiaries, who they reckon are somehow to blame for the high dollar that’s crippling our exporters. Weird, I know, but then that’s the Feds for you. The dogwhistle term they’re using is ‘government spending’, but thanks to a recent admission […]

Fed Farmers -stunning specificity to bring dollar down

Written By: - Date published: 12:38 pm, October 27th, 2009 - 36 comments

Have a listen to Sean Plunket’s interview this morning with Fed Farmer’s economic spokesperson Philip York. Fed Farmers is calling on the government to cut spending to rein in the rising NZ dollar. FF: Well there’s going to have to be some tough decisions made. They’re going to have to look seriously at everything they […]

World Farm Animal Day – Oct 2nd

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 2nd, 2009 - 24 comments

Following on from yesterdays guest post on World Vegetarian Day, today is World Farm Animal Day. At the end of last year, I was a little bit involved in a documentary created by Animal Liberation Aotearoa called “Who are you having for dinner? The reality of meat production in New Zealand“. On a trip up […]

MAF “animal welfare” is a joke

Written By: - Date published: 6:06 pm, September 30th, 2009 - 24 comments

The recent news that NZ’s largest dairy farmer allowed calves to dehydrate and starve to death is appalling, but there are much larger issues here than this just being one rogue farm. The fact is, MAF animal welfare is a joke. They have only five animal welfare inspectors covering the entire country, so it’s really […]

Crocodile tears from Crafars

Written By: - Date published: 3:20 pm, September 29th, 2009 - 36 comments

I saw one of the Crafar brothers on the TV last night. Crying fake tears over calves that a whistle-blower had revealed were being left to starve on one of their farms. The Crafars are prime examples of what’s wrong with the capitalist class and, because capitalism is essentially a system that rewards sociopathy and […]

New Zealand’s weakest link

Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, June 7th, 2009 - 63 comments

Is its business leaders. There’s Keys, the Fyfes, the Weldons. Who all spend so much money to look good on the covers of magazines. Who expect us to love them. They want to be hailed as messiahs or Atlases carrying the rest of us. These are the muppets who banged their heads together for a […]

NACT: Going backwards for politics

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 pm, May 20th, 2009 - 33 comments

The Fast Forward Fund was axed by the NACT government in Feburary. This was a fund that was to be invested and the proceeds and capital drawn down over 10-15 years to invest in agriculture. The funds would be distributed with equal contributions from agricultural businesses. Farming provides well over a third of our overseas […]

Meat and Wool NZ: “Job Summit Disappointing”

Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, March 6th, 2009 - 18 comments

It’s been said by some of the Government’s supporters that criticism of the Job Summit is nothing more than rantings of the embittered Left. Well, I may be doing Chairman of Meat and Wool NZ Mike Petersen a great disservice, but I’m willing to gamble that he’s not a hardcore lefty. Here’s what Petersen had […]

Fonterra set to simmer

Written By: - Date published: 12:10 pm, February 4th, 2009 - Comments Off on Fonterra set to simmer

Lawyer Stephen Price has rubbished Fonterra’s claim that the Chinese sub judice status of the Sanlu case prevents Fonterra releasing documentation of their communications. Price also doubts any discussion of the issues here would influence the outcome of Sanlu Chairwoman Tian Wenhau’s appeal. The criticism comes after Fonterra claimed it advised Sanlu only 0% melamine was acceptable […]

A key birdshit shortage

Written By: - Date published: 12:39 pm, January 30th, 2009 - 9 comments

Our economy depends on other key resources apart from oil. For instance our farming sector still depends heavily on using phosphates to increase soil fertility. Since our farming sector provides at more than half of the export income, it got a little disturbing to read about the limited security of supply. For most of last […]