It all began when founders Gregor
and Cameron Fyfe realised
how disconnected they were to
their food. They didn’t like not
knowing where their bacon was
coming from and knew that as
consumers, they held the most
power to change the way food was
produced.
The pair also recognised that
animal welfare plays a big part in
how New Zealanders choose to
spend their money.
In 2006, they decided to take
matters into their own hands
and established a company that
would give consumers a line of
traceability in an industry where
almost everything was an unknown
commodity.
They approached farmers who
agreed to work with a set of
farming standards and in turn,
were paid a premium. The product
sourced from those farms was put
into products that the company
branded, and it quickly became
clear that Gregor and Cameron
were not the only ones who
wanted more accountability from
their farmers.
Freedom Farms general manager
Hilary Pearson sees this trend
of conscious consumerism
as an opportunity for local
producers to embrace sustainable
and regenerative production
processes.
“Consumers are looking for
solutions to the climate challenges
– and producers who are willing
to be open and transparent about
their progress in the environmental
space are an integral part of how
New Zealand’s climate action
progresses,” she says.
“Obviously the climate
conversation is front and centre in
the meat industry at the moment
– that’s not going to change
in a hurry. But it’s important
that producers look beyond
inflammatory headlines and
understand the consumer trends.”
Pearson says as local pork
production only makes up 0.2%
of agriculture emissions, which
in turn accounts for 44% of New
Zealand’s total greenhouse gas
emissions, they don’t face the
same challenges as beef and
dairy farmers, however more work
can be done to ensure they are
protecting the soil, water and
biodiversity.
“The research piece undertaken
by Colmar Brunton in October
2019 was widely picked up in the
media – one media outlet ran the
headline ‘Third of New Zealanders
eliminate or cut down eating
meat – research.’ But digging into
the research, while 31% report
consciously limiting their meat
consumption (without quantifying
what changes they were making),
only 3% identified as vegetarian or
vegan,” she says.
As well as looking after the
environment and animals, caring
for people and local communities
is an important part of the
Freedom Farms ethos.
“One of my favourite parts of the
job is at Christmas time when we
put together packages for women
who are being looked after by The
Aunties, a community organisation
working with families affected
by domestic violence in South
Auckland. We’re helping families
who might not otherwise get to
have that classic Kiwi Christmas
which is such a special thing.”
Pearson also travels to farms
around the country and says she
is always struck by the level of
care she experiences during these
visits.
“These farms are people’s
homes as well as where they
work. You can compare that
to what we see internationally
with industrial agriculture. On
Freedom Farms there’s not that
large scale commercial yuckyness
that comes with doing things
at the scale that we are seeing
overseas.”
Pearson says she feels fortunate to
work with New Zealand producers
who value things like animal
welfare, environmental efforts and
the social side of the food sector-
the same things that she and many
other consumers care about.
“I’ve really enjoyed getting to
know the farmers and getting to
understand why they do what they
do. New Zealand is really lucky
8 FEBRUARY 2020