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2016

New Harvest Conference New York: Synthetic Food Debate

Richard Fowler, 2016 Nuffield Scholar

The hype and debate around synthetic food seems to keep ramping up with a continuous stream of articles in the farming papers and mentions from so called futurists, but when I attended the New Harvest 2017 conference in New York last month, I got the impression that the rhetoric and the marketing is still out of tune with actual production and sales.

New Harvest is a non-profit group that aims to fund and coordinate research into ‘Cellular Agriculture’ and covers the extreme end of synthetic food including in-vitro meat production, and milk protein synthesis without the need for cows.

When I attended the 2016 conference, I got the impression that despite the incredible amount of funding and interest in the field, there were some serious hurdles like the use of bovine foetal serum for cell growth and the need to get USDA approval for novel technologies. There was also an obvious lack of farmers and food processors in the room, so there was no balanced debate or real-world experience.

This year, after giving my feedback on the 2016 conference, I was asked to speak on a panel alongside a Welsh farmer (also a Nuffield scholar) and two of the leaders from the Cell Ag world. The questions put to us included “what will happen to all the farm animals when they’re not required any more” and “is clean meat the right term to be using to describe cell cultured tissue?”

It was always going to be a tough crowd and there’s a real need to get more farmers and researchers in on the conversation. But I think we managed to get a couple of points across like “YouTube doesn’t represent different farming systems very well” and that “animal agriculture is actually a rich part of human culture.”
To me, the thing that needs the most attention from a New Zealand Agriculture point of view, is pushing back on the claims that are being made by the synthetic food companies.

Stats like ‘98% less water consumption to make cultured milk’ and ‘95% less land to make a veggie burger’ are presented like they are facts when they’re quite frankly rubbish.

I strongly believe that once some real research (instead of modelling) is done on the actual production (instead of forecasts) of synthetic food, then pastoral farming will prove more efficient and therefore cheaper and better for the environment.

That message is being diluted by the millions of dollars being pumped into the marketing of synthetic food and animal agriculture still runs the risk of being shot without a fair trial.

Jessica Bensemann in Mexico City

Jessica Bensemann, 2016 Nuffield Scholar

I am currently in Mexico City on a temporary assignment for four months as Acting Deputy Head of Mission in the New Zealand Embassy.

It’s an interesting time to be in the region, with the recent conclusion of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the on-going renegotiation of NAFTA. 

Free Trade Agreement negotiations are also underway between New Zealand and the Pacific Alliance countries of Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia.  The role of the Embassy is to gather information about the negotiations by meeting with government and industry stakeholders.

My learnings from Nuffield enable me to understand the broader geo-political dynamics at play in production and trade, particularly related to agriculture and food. 

The concept from my report of how a country’s external strategy is driven by their culture and geographical location applies also in Mexico, where they  have become a strong manufacturing country based on lower cost labour, with supply chains integrated into the United States.

Mexico is New Zealand’s largest trading partner in Latin America, and while food and beverage exports dominates the profile, there are an increasing number of innovative New Zealand companies seeing Mexico as a platform for entry into the region.

A period of disruption in traditional international relationships presents opportunities for New Zealand to think about new business models that respond to the needs and challenges facing other countries in this period of uncertainty.

Aussie – our competitor or our mate?

Dan Steele, 2015 Nuffield Scholar

In September I attended Australia’s Nuffield conference in Darwin to catch up with the scholars I had met before and to meet some new ones.

The Northern Territory was an interesting part of the world to see, and what better way to explore new territory and gain some valuable insights than a Nuffield tour? I was the only Kiwi to attend, and found myself in the company of one English, one Irish and one Dutch scholar, and many Australians.

The Northern Territory?

Well, it’s hot, flat and full of crocodiles, and it has been periodically bombed, invaded and flattened by cyclones. The tour offered a top look around a very diverse and difficult area, from buffalo milking, croc farming and raising barramundi by the tone to growing durians, jackfruit and oranges bigger than your head.

We saw and tasted much of what the far north of Australia has to offer. As one of the local scholars told us, a lot of the terrain is ‘GAFA country’, it has great amounts of… not much.

Nonetheless, the northern half of Australia produces 54% of Australia’s export, and that from 5% of the population! Most of their export products come from under the ground, I believe – mainly mineral fuels and ores.

Darwin and the Northern Territory consider themselves the gateway for products from Asia, with 400 million people only a few hours flight time away. Therefore, Asia’s close to one billion emerging middle class and their strong demand for quality produce, formed a significant theme of the conference.

Also, some problems that emerge when trading with Asia were cited: animal welfare, over-regulation and a lack of labour and agricultural leadership. Surprisingly, there was no mention of synthetic foods becoming an issue – a major point of discussion in New Zealand at the moment.

From the conference

…and the Australian scholars in particular, I gathered that New Zealand is seen as having a fantastic rugby team, a jointly named plant called ‘manuka’ (which they strongly claim) and a very strong business model: we know how to market the quality and story of our products worldwide.

The Australian Wool Innovation company seems to be doing some good work educating people around the planet. They have partnered with the global high fashion brand Prada whose salespeople will be showcasing the health and quality benefits of wool products all over the world – quite a coup!

New Zealand is rather competitive with Aussie – but look, they are quite easy to beat at rugby. I believe that we should form strategic partnerships with our mates over the ditch. Sort out a joint honey plan to take on the world. Try to get alongside some of the good work they are doing with wool and utilize their gateway into Asia.

We are very different countries but surely there could be some great strength in unity. Nuffield could lead the way in forming some of those relationships.

Healthy environment and healthy food go hand in hand

Rebecca Hyde, 2017 Nuffield Scholar

This is all occurring at a time when our target market of premium consumers is becoming more conscious about the health benefits of the food they are consuming.

The question is, how do we link the two?

Regulation is not always the best way to achieve change but I do believe it has woken our farmers up to the changes that need to happen within the farm gate.

Are we prepared to stop calling ourselves farmers and start calling ourselves food producers? There is a phenomenal amount of work by farmers and industry going in to improving the environment we farm in, yet we haven’t managed to collaborate to make this movement as powerful as it could be. I believe there needs to be agreement at the top of our organisations to work together to achieve the outcomes.

The Danish Food and Agricultural council in central Copenhagen was impressive to visit, all the land based agriculture sectors are represented under one roof. While they work independently a lot of the time they very much work together regarding environment, urban engagement, promoting the industry and promoting the health benefits of the food produced.

I’d love to see a rural New Zealand where instead of talking about Sarah the dairy farmer or Tom the sheep and beef farmer we talk about Sarah and Tom the food producers who farm in the same environment.

I do believe that everyone in New Zealand is after the same outcome – a sustainable environment – but we have managed to muddy the waters.

The theme for the Nuffield triennial conference was Farming Fit for Food. A very relevant topic as our consumers get further removed from how and where their food is being produced. During a presentation the LEAF Chief Executive Caroline Drummond made a strong link between the health of the environment and the health of the food it produces.

Twenty years ago in the UK talk around environmental management was very topical. If at that time they had linked the connection of environmental management to the health of the food, they believe the consumer buy in to the importance of farmers would have been considerably greater.

In New Zealand you don’t have to look far to find a discussion regarding environmental management and water quality.

We are in the prime position to link this to the benefits of the real food we are producing, not only domestically but internationally for the benefit for both farmers and consumers.

There is a connection to be made between the health of the food we eat and the health of the environment it is produced in. As an industry we need to highlight this connection and communicate it to our fellow New Zealanders and consumers abroad.

We are a proud food producing nation. Let’s make the link together.

Juliet Maclean: A Note from the Chair

November 2017

Since my last note, not only do we have a new government, we also have five new Nuffield scholars. 

The businesses of farming and growing have changed dramatically over the past decade. Historically, it was adequate for farmers to express a personal desire to care for their livestock and land and to ‘do the right thing’ when undertaking development projects. There was little scrutiny and our freedom to operate was largely unlimited.

This is no longer the case, with a complicated landscape of approvals, monitoring and reporting, compliance and restrictions now changing the way rural businesses are operated. Both the general public and the regulators are lifting the bar on how farmers and growers produce food.

Many a rigorous debate has navigated the pros and cons of changing nutrient management regimes, protecting our waterways, reducing waste, keeping our people safe from harm, sourcing adequate capital to ensure financially robust businesses, biosecurity, customer centric marketing,  succession and the place for exponential technology.

I believe that sustainable and successful rural businesses will be led by those who stay abreast  of these and many more topical issues, develop an ability to  critically analyse the options, then execute with excellence.

With this backdrop and the Nuffield objective of encouraging global vision, leadership and innovation, your board of Trustees agonises over their decisions to select the most appropriate scholars from those who apply. We seek diversity, the potential to demonstrate thought leadership, to gather and share knowledge, to understand different aspects of our production to plate supply chain,  to influence positive future outcomes for New Zealand and to ‘fit’ with our proud Nuffield culture.

Our agri business ownership structures are evolving and not all farmers own land, not all growers work full time within the farm gate. The future of work is such that technology will play a bigger part and a first chosen career is likely to be followed by many iterations of learning and doing as our future work-force reinvents themselves to stay relevant and engaged.

Our system for short listing, reference checking and interviewing scholar applicants for one of five available scholarships is now a very thorough one and a demonstration of Nuffield NZ focusing on professional management processes with outcomes which have relevance for the future.

Over recent years, the selection panel has balanced all these factors to select scholars whom we believe are ‘fit for the future. Some are hands on farmers and growers and others work alongside them to provide information and advice which is required to operate rural businesses.

What these scholars all have in common is a sense of self responsibility to learn and lead and a strong desire to influence positive future outcomes for our rural ecosystem – communities, people, the environment and business. I believe a diverse and  well networked Nuffield New Zealand will continue to be a national asset.

I look forward to seeing you all at the conference in Tauranga in May and I trust you’ve saved the date already. Our recent scholars are excited about presenting to you and are ready for your feedback and searching questions. They know this is the ‘Nuffield Way’.

Enjoy a safe and fulfilling summer, fun across the festive season and look forward to 2018 with excitement and anticipation; we are all privileged to have the opportunity to enjoy another year!

Kind regards
Juliet Maclean

The Hunger Winter And The Evolution Of Subsidies

By Simon Cook, 2018 Nuffield New Zealand Scholar

The theme of this year’s CSC in the Netherlands was very much about learning and understanding the history of Dutch agriculture and how and why they have got to where they are now. As a New Zealand farmer, we often hear about the long term subsidies paid to farmers in the EU, without ever understanding why these subsidies were introduced in the first place.

During our Nuffield conference in the Netherlands we had a number of speakers fill that gap in our knowledge with the story behind the introduction of subsidies.

After a day of beginning to meet each other and an afternoon farm visit, the second day of our CSC got off to an interesting start, with a presentation being given to the scholars while they sat in the pool in their togs – an introduction to business models.

Once back in the conference room we had some moving presentations focused around WW2 and the famine bought on as the war drew to a close. We had a presentation by Mr Jaques Von Trammel who was a young Jewish boy forced to grow up quickly as he lived in constant fear of being caught by German forces. We were then given the story of Leny Adelaar-Polak, a survivor of the medical experiments in Auschwitz. Leny was the only member of her extended family to survive the war.

We also had a presentation by Ingrid de Zwarte who completed a PhD thesis titled “The Hunger Winter” which focused on the famine that struck the Netherlands as WW2 drew to a close. In the winter of 1945 the population of the Netherlands were struck by food shortages.

Bought on by a shortage of local produce and failing supply lines from Germany, the population of Netherlands suffered a severe famine. During April 1945, the average daily calorie intake dropped below 500 kcal, less than a quarter of the daily average an adult consumes today.

This mass starvation and resulting deaths galvanised the population to ensure that farms completely de-stocked and devastated by the war would be given whatever support was needed to get back up and running, to ensure this situation would never happen again. Food security became the utmost priority in the Netherlands and across Europe.

It was interesting to reflect on the low status farming holds in countries like New Zealand and Australia, where there has never been a food shortage, and compare it to countries like the Netherlands and Japan who have known critical food shortages and truly understand the importance of agriculture as a necessity of life along with fresh water and clean air.

One of the major steps towards ensuring not only food security but also political stability in Europe came in 1958 with the formation of the EU. The initial trade agreements, signed up by the six founding nations, that were to form the basis of the EU, were designed to control the supply of steel and coal, the two raw ingredients required to manufacture canons and therefore wage war. By the late 70’s most European countries and the UK had also joined the EU.

Now that I have a better understanding of the environment and pressures that lead to the formation of the subsidies I have a more open mind towards their purpose and introduction.

The question is whether they are still valid in today’s society and it will be interesting to follow the outcome of Brexit which will remove the direct payment subsidies to farmers in the UK, and may also challenge the future of farming subsidies across Europe.