Crisis brings Opportunity to Change

The crisis of climate change, and an economic downturn in dairy and meat could provide NZ with an opportunity to authentically move towards our clean, green image.

New Zealand has the possibility of supplying the world with premium, clean, green, organic produce and quality meat. Imagine a country that is farmed in a way where we add massive value at the source by increasing diversification, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, sustaining the soil for future growth, and the water ways slowly returning to their natural state due to aggressive planting initiatives. Joel Salatin's methods may show us the way forward. Joel is an American farmer who is world renowned for revolutionising organic agricultural production. He prides himself on being a steward for the land and defines what sustainability really means in regards to food production. 

Greg and Rachael Hart who run a 1500 acre station farming sheep, cattle, pigs, and chickens in Otane 60km south of Napier were so inspired by Salatins organic farming methods, they implemented them moving away from traditional NZ methods. On most NZ farms the resources (water, land, and animals) are treated like commodities to be exploited for profit. The Salatin way in contrast has more reverence for the land over the drive for financial gain in the short term. On a worldly scale climate change, species extinction, resource depletion, and worsening water quality are all major issues unravelling the ecological fabric of nature. All these events should be pushing us as a nation to take an evolutionary step in consciousness and wake up to the fact that ALL life is interconnected - we are all one and need to strive for living in harmony with each other and nature. 

This thinking is reinforced by many books, articles, and mentors that I have come across since I started researching wellness in March 2014. Pastors like Rob Bell, Drew Sams, athletes/wellness advocates like Brendan Brazier, James Aspey, and Rich Roll, and writers like Eckhart Tolle, and Charles Eisenstein (Individually and collectively, we are on a journey from a story of Separation to a new yet ancient story of Reunion: ecology, interdependency) all talk about true wellness embracing nature. It's not only about love your neighbour, we need to love thy nature. We will never move towards the best we can be without looking after our "home". Basic psychology teaches us that having a healthy environment (and we need to increase the sphere of our thinking to encompass humanities home: the earth; rather than just our fragmented communities, and nations) plays a massive role in our development. Maslow's hierarchy of needs states that unless our basic physiological needs of food and shelter are met then we will never move towards our true purpose of self actualisation. We are literally slowly destroying our house with our need for "economic growth" without being conscious about the consequences of our actions. 

New Zealand governments continue to pursue "business as usual" for fear of rocking the economic boat. We need to wake up to the fact that fossil fuels need to stay in the ground to mitigate climate change. At present the global industrial food system is dependent on cheap abundant energy : moving away from oil will change this. Looking at holistic grazing management is one technique to move towards a more sustainable way of farming with sequestering carbon into the soils. This is where pastures are left to grow long (Joel Salatin recommends waist high) then grazed and trampled by densely stocked cattle. This process recreated the natural patterns of grazing of animals that once roamed the great plains. Over time this natural method developed deep mineral rich soils, becoming self sufficient in nutrients. 

On Polyface farms there is a radical shift away from conventional farming practices yet it all works symbiotically. Joel Salatin hasn't used chemical fertilizers on his farm for over 50 years. The food they produce is only sold to families and restaurants within a 4 hour driving radius. Instead of using fertilizer the grass is allowed to grow to 1m high twice a year before it is grazed. The cows take up large amounts of starch then create "pumpkin pie" consistency manure which helps raise fertility.

"Basically we're grazing hay. I call it mob-stocking-herbivorous-solar-conversion-lignified-carbon-suquestration-fertillisation." Joel Salatin 

The Hart's are recreating Salatin's organic sustainable systems on their farm, stacking layers of complimentary animal production systems on the land. They now run around 1000 sheep, lambs (half of what was run), 600 head of cattle, 18 cows, 25 pigs, and a few hundred chickens (housed in a mobile chicken house that is moved around the farm). Any manure that is excreted in the dairy is placed in worm farms producing nutrients that is put back on the land. With more diversification and less intensive farming they are creating more productivity, profitability, and labour opportunities than the more traditional past farming methods. Getting back to the past could be the answer to a cleaner, greener future for NZ. Let's authentically move towards the "Clean, Green" slogan we have created The Air NZ Environment trust has helped fund the planting of 85,000 native trees, and the Harts are planting 1000's more every year. Combining trees and pasture (Silvio pasture) is one of the best sustainable methods to reverse global warming. 

"A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit." Elton Trueblood.

The Harts has also received funding from the Million Metres Streams Project to plant around the lake on the property, helping protect the lake and it's water quality for future generations. The Harts family philosophy is about building healthy soils, regenerating ecosystems, strong community, respecting animals, earth care, people care, and fair share. To aid the transition to sustainability the Hart's are looking at alternatives from the traditional structure of ownership to stewardship (by looking at community land trust models from around the world). Greg Hart has stated the need to transition away from a disruptive model of farming towards a model which restores the natural balance back to the land, developing integrated regenerative systems. We need widespread education and discussion quickly about what effect our present farming methods are having on NZ's soil (it all begins with healthy soil) and water. We need to look to more traditional simple, diversified methods to make NZ clean, green, and the envy of the rest of the world. NZ can lead the world in this new direction. Crisis brings the need for change, and make no mistake, our nature, our earth, our home that we are stewards of is in a precarious state.

Million Metres Stream Project

The goal of the project is to fund 1 million metres (1000 km) of tree planting along stream banks around NZ through crowd funding. This is a collaboration between the sustainable business network and Enspiral (NZ social enterprise group), and is supported by the department of conservation. Anyone with waterways on their property can apply (with conditions) www.millionmetres.org.nz 

Wairarapa Eco farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) 

What I am talking about is already happening on a small scale in NZ. Frank and Josje both studied tropical agriculture in the Netherlands before coming to NZ. They turned a "pastural desert - just grass" into heaven on earth. On the farm is a mixed system of plants and animals to keep the recycling and the cycling optimal optimal and not having to use fertilisers. The supermarket system demands farmers supply uniform, blemish free produce - looks over nutritional value, leading to over applying fertilisers and spraying with toxic chemicals. The CSA model (groups of farmers sharing in the harvest - Frank would like up to 200 members) eases the pressure as farmers as they aren't bound to meet industry demands allowing them to farm in a way that produces healthy food, as well as building the soil, creating biodiversity, and increasing resilience to drought and pests. If you are interested in making the world a better place - go out and search for places like this to purchase real food, being grown without environmental pressure creating poor soil quality and sustainability.  

Brad Dixon is a sports physiotherapist, coach, and wellness advocate based at EVERFIT Physio & Coaching. His passion is helping people strive for their potential with promotion of enhancing daily habits. The power is in your hands! Walking the talk helps deliver the message more authentically. If you want to connect with Brad he is at www.everfit.co.nz,and on Facebook, Strava, and Instagram (everfitcoaching).

Please check out my book 'Holistic Human' for more information on expansive wellness habits https://www.amazon.com/Holistic-Human-Enhancing-Expansive-Wellness-ebook/dp/B08DTL813Y/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=holistic+human&qid=1596336710&s=books&sr=1-1