Opinion: Vegetable growers the foundation of food security and well-being in New Zealand

Words by John Murphy: VNZI board chair.

Opinion piece by John Murphy.

For New Zealand to maintain national food security, our vegetable growers have to run viable businesses that can provide for their families.

Obviously, we must operate in an environmentally friendly way to continue to grow. Our growers need the support of consumers and regulators to get even better at this. With that and our commitment to improvement, we can keep contributing to the well-being of our people.

The year 2020 presented what we hoped might be a unique circumstance of ongoing lockdowns on the doorstep of New Zealand’s vegetable growing hub. Unfortunately, the damaging Delta variant has continued to complicate life in 2021, especially the day-to-day activities in vegetable growing operations.

We’ve adapted to our staff working at distance and in bubbles, ensured rigorous hygiene measures are in place, and put the general well-being of our workmates first. When New Zealanders needed the comfort of fresh, healthy produce abundantly available on their shelves, we worked our tails off and delivered.

And yet, the viability of our businesses seems less secure than ever. Input costs have skyrocketed recently, with compliance concerning the quality of water in local rivers, energy and people all presenting hikes in our cost of doing business. Add exponential increases in the cost of shipping, fertiliser and fuel, and the recipe is one of high cost for even the leanest of farm operations. 

One of the most alarming recent increases in cost is energy. Spot electricity prices have surged, as has coal use to help fire the national grid. At the same time our covered crop growers are being told that use of electricity from the national grid will drive a greener economy. Supply of efficient energy sources such as natural gas are being undermined by the prevailing attitude that these are ‘yesterday’s fuels.’

Many of our best performing covered cropping operations use natural gas with impressive results. Amongst other products, they are internationally successful purveyors of the best capsicums, tomatoes and cucumbers that anyone can find.

The New Zealand vegetable industry is absolutely committed to innovation that will improve our energy footprint. Where commercial reality and good intentions collide, the environment and our people will win.

We have asked the regulators for time – we need a reasonable and equitable chance to decarbonise. It simply can’t happen with the flick of a switch. There is a serious risk that hastily converting to electricity via the grid will increase our footprint, not decrease it. This year coal has been burnt in massive quantities to fire the turbines that power the grid.

To support our improvement, what we ultimately need is New Zealanders to continue buying our goods. There is a serious risk that cost increases due to government energy policies will render us uncompetitive against competitors from places where inefficient energy use isn’t penalised. Exporting pollution by buying inferior competitors’ goods only adds to the footprint we seek to limit.

With our commitment to getting better, and the support of government and consumers, we will remain relevant and drive improvement. This means we can continue to be the foundation of New Zealand’s food security.