Misguided campaign
OPINION: Last week, Greenpeace lit up Fonterra's Auckland headquarters with 'messages from the common people' - that the sector is polluting the environment.
OPINION: “A lie is halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on” sums up the propaganda certain activists, bureaucrats and policymakers are spreading about the farming sector in this country.
Such a quote can be attributed to Winston Churchill.
For years, we’ve seen the likes of Fish & Game, Greenpeace and Forest and Bird lobbyists constantly and consistently painting agriculture with malevolent terms such as: ‘dirty dairying’, ‘industrial farming’ and ‘water polluters’ – to name a few. While there is some truth in such claims, it is by no means fair or truthful to label all farming as environmentally damaging as these groups do.
Late last year, we saw the country’s national museum Te Papa running an exhibition on water quality in New Zealand that was clearly anti-farming. The exhibition showed water quality in various parts of the country: farm streams, lakes and harbours. However, Te Papa had water bottles artificially coloured to show what they believe is the colour of water in those places. It also had an interactive display where people can supposedly improve the environment by touching a screen which said: “less dairy”.
For its part, Te Papa basically admitted it was screwing the scrum on farming’s impact in its exhibition to get people talking about the environment.
“We can’t be an encyclopaedia that presents the full complexity of an issue,” a museum spokesperson said. “But we can spark interest and get people thinking and talking.”
![]() |
---|
The bottles at Te Papa’s exhibit on water quality. |
That is an unbelievably dangerous and irresponsible attitude from the country’s national museum.
And now we see the latest addition to the school curriculum, a government–backed resource on climate change, which – again – takes an overly simplistic and anti-farming approach to a very complex subject.
The teaching resource, which will be used in schools this year, see students told, among other things, to eat less meat and dairy to stave off the end of the world.
There appears to be no discussion about the actual carbon footprint of NZ meat and dairy (which is low compared to other global producers) or the environmental impact of growing more crops to produce plant-based food.
How can we expect people to be fully informed on such important issues; when deliberate half-truths and misleading information is sanctioned by government, educators and museums?
As an industry we must continue to push back and demand the whole truth be told.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
Holstein Friesian excellence was front and centre at the 2025 Holstein Friesian NZ (HFNZ) Awards, held recently in Invercargill.
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…
OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…