ORIGIN ETHICS… When you open your mouth and place food in it, do you really know where it’s come from? In New Zealand, labelling information about what is in what you eat and where it comes from has come one step closer with the first reading of the Consumers’ Right to Know Bill before Parliament this year. Kathryn Calvert gauges reaction to the Bill. Green MP Steffan Browning is a man on a mission. “New Zealanders,” he says, “have a right to know where their food comes from and to make an informed choice when they buy. People want the option of choosing locally produced food when they do their weekly shop and we now have an opportunity to make that a reality.” What he’s talking about is his Consumers’ Right to Know (Country of Origin of Food) Bill, which has just passed its first reading in Parliament. All going well, the Bill will require fruit, vegetables, meats, seafood and other single-ingredient food to be labelled or shown at the point of sale. It will apply to food that contains water, sugar, salt or other ingredients used in preserving, colouring or flavouring, and introduces offences for misleading statements on labels. “A recent poll showed that more than 70% of New Zealanders support mandatory labelling,” Browning says. “It’s good for local food producers too. Many other countries, including most of our trading partners, have mandatory country of origin labelling. It’s well past time we had it here in New Zealand.” It’s been eight long years since former Green MP Sue Kedgley presented a 36,000-strong petition to Parliament calling for country of origin labelling. Browning says he is delighted at the National Party’s change of heart this year to support the Bill at first reading, and hopes New Zealand food developers and manufacturers do the same. By all accounts, his wish looks set to come true. Consumer NZ’s recent survey with Horticulture New Zealand found only 9% of Kiwis didn’t support mandatory labelling; 65% said they looked for labelling information when buying fresh fruit, but only a third found it; and only 29% could find labelling information on fresh vegetables. Horticulture New Zealand has congratulated the Government on listening to the people, saying nearly three-quarters of us want mandatory CoOL for fresh fruit and veges, and around the same want to buy New Zealand-grown. “Consumers want to be able to make choices based on their own beliefs and values. They may want to support local businesses, or buy what is in season and grown locally, or help keep and create jobs in their own area, or for that matter, buy products from other countries known for being the best at growing particular produce,” Hort NZ chief executive Mike Chapman says. “There are a lot of misconceptions and myths around CoOL. Voluntary CoOL has been adopted by major supermarkets but there is no consistency across the board, which is why it needs to be mandatory. For example, people make assumptions about what they are buying at those local Saturday markets that spring up in neighbourhoods around New Zealand, but not all the produce meets those expectations of being fresh and locally grown. “There are no trade issues - most of our trading partners have CoOL and our exporters certainly trade on coming from New Zealand, as people pay a premium for that.” As it’s election year, Hort NZ goes going a bit further. “We are also starting a movement, via Facebook, to enable people to ask their local MP what they are going to do about meeting the people’s demand for mandatory CoOL. This law will not be made by the September general election, so people need to be clear what the next Government’s stance will be,” Chapman says. “As for cost, Horticulture New Zealand A recent poll showed that more than 70% of New Zealanders support mandatory labelling Horticulture New Zealand found only 9% of Kiwis didn’t support mandatory labelling 65% said they looked for labelling only 29% could find labelling information on fresh vegetables. THE TALE OF OUR FOOD
FT-May17-eMag
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