Category: Nutrition

Repurposing some agricultural land for horticulture has revenue consequences

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New Zealand is incredibly dependent on its primary industry sector for revenue so I thought it worth looking at the current situation. If we are proposing that in order to reduce our methane  and nitrous oxide emissions, it has export revenue consequences. If we say some appropriate land should be repurposed for growing more plant foods, then it might pay us to look at the revenue we currently receive from our primary sector. Continue reading “Repurposing some agricultural land for horticulture has revenue consequences”

Why I no longer eat dairy

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At first I was convinced by the whole organic milk argument and for years I had it delivered. I had been convinced by Sally Fallon, President and founder of the Weston A Price Foundation. l made my kefir from it and gulped it down as though there was no tomorrow, to  the consternation of my doctor daughter. Kay Baxter from the Koanga Institute sold us Sally Fallon’s book (and thank heaven I wasn’t attracted to the idea of eating a lot of raw offal, something the book was keen on). But the raw milk argument seemed logical at the time. Continue reading “Why I no longer eat dairy”

Is arthritis pain just a matter of luck as you get older?

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So many people I know have arthritis. One says her toes are all misshapen gnarled and twisted from it, another told me I was lucky I didn’t have any arthritis pain and yet another told me about her sore shoulder and the fact that the other shoulder already had a joint replacement. My neighbour had a knee replacement last year and goodness knows how many people I know with hip replacements. And we oldies take it all for granted, as though none can be prevented. The hospital waiting lists are long and the cost to the country keeps growing. Continue reading “Is arthritis pain just a matter of luck as you get older?”

Meat and aviation industries use cute ways to measure emissions

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When it comes to telling the public about their emissions, the aviation industry keeps telling us how much their efficiency has improved. That is they can fly further on a certain amount of fuel. But what they don’t tell us is that their capacity keeps increasing so much that overall their emissions increase. The planes are bigger, they have more routes and there are more planes flying. Continue reading “Meat and aviation industries use cute ways to measure emissions”

New Zealand’s agricultural emissions are high

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Nearly half of New Zealand’s emissions are from livestock. A shocking 46.1% for the year 2012 as calculated by the Ministry for the Environment. (MfE). A large proportion of this comes from beef and to a less extent sheep. The MfE paper tells us tells us that in 2012 we had 6.4 m dairy cattle, 3.8m beef cattle, 3.1 m sheep and 1 m deer. So a total of 14.3m ruminant livestock. Continue reading “New Zealand’s agricultural emissions are high”

When you die isn’t really a matter of luck

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I was having a conversation with a friend the other day and somehow we got on to the issue of what I ate. I started eating whole foods plant based with no oil just 10 months ago. Having told this person come out with the fact that I now only need to take 2 meds instead of 6, that my joints had stopped aching, my weight had normalised, my diabetes risk had disappeared and my asthma had gone away, there was a flicker of interest. Continue reading “When you die isn’t really a matter of luck”

New Zealand editorial writer is dreaming if he thinks sustainable beef production is possible

FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailIn June 2019 the Herald was doing some editorialising on the end of meat. Impossible Burgers had recently made an entry and it was looking like there were going to be more plant based imitation meat appearing on the market soon. They said, “While in New Zealand beef and lamb consumption has fallen, 38 per cent and 45 per cent respectively in the past 10 years, the trend doesn’t spell doom for our $10 billion red meat industry.” Continue reading “New Zealand editorial writer is dreaming if he thinks sustainable beef production is possible”

What if New Zealand farmers grew less meat and dairy for the climate’s sake?

FacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailIn New Zealand we all know that agricultural emissions are the second biggest sector at 48%. We have a big beef and dairy sector, the latter having expanded into dry regions once irrigation became available. These areas are entirely unsuitable for dairy conversions. Continue reading “What if New Zealand farmers grew less meat and dairy for the climate’s sake?”