Agriculture
Everyone deserves fresh, healthy food grown in a way that’s good for the climate, rivers, wildlife and communities.
Agriculture in New Zealand
Over the past thirty years, farming in New Zealand has changed. Family farms are steadily being replaced by corporate, monoculture farms, with dairy cows crammed into every corner.
Intensive dairying is making the climate, the water and our communities sick. Industrial agriculture is New Zealand’s biggest climate polluter, largely thanks to all those dairy cows. Aotearoa’s rivers and lakes are in the worst state they’ve ever been. Even our drinking water is at risk.
Take action today
We want you to take action because together we’re strong.
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PETITION: Stop Fonterra using Palm Kernel
Call on Fonterra to end the use of rainforest-destroying palm kernel on its farms.
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Tell Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to stop the rollback of freshwater protection
Every New Zealander should be able to swim in clean rivers and know that the water coming out of their kitchen tap is safe to drink.
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Open Letter to Stop the Fast Track
Sign on to this open letter to industry now to help push more of them to opt out of the Fast Track.
Why it matters
We’re already seeing the shocking effects of the climate crisis. Places like Australia and California have faced raging wildfires. Storms and other destructive weather events are set to become more frequent and intense.
Even if we stopped using all fossil fuels tomorrow, we’d still be on the path to global heating because of the way we’re farming.
Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and intensive dairying is also causing alarmingly high levels of nitrate contamination in our drinking water – endangering people’s health. Pregnant people who drink high nitrate water risk preterm and underweight babies, and scientists warn that nitrate in drinking water could be causing 100 cases of bowel cancer and 40 deaths per year in New Zealand. Rural communities on bore water are the most at risk. What is more – it can take up to 20 years to feel the full impacts of nitrate pollution on our waterways and on human health, meaning it is even more important to stop nitrate contamination at source. This is about people’s lives.
Farming can be part of the climate solution, but we need to make some changes.
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STATEMENT: Fonterra admits to breaching Fair Trading Act
Fonterra Brands and Greenpeace Aotearoa have agreed to settle Greenpeace’s lawsuit over Anchor Butter packaging.
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Greenpeace challenges MPs to drink nitrate-contaminated water at Parliament
Greenpeace has installed a mobile bar serving nitrate-contaminated water at Parliament, and is calling on MPs to lower the nitrate limit in drinking water.
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The supermarket trip that led to Fonterra admitting its “100% New Zealand Grass Fed” claim is misleading and deceptive
How Russel Norman’s grocery shop led to Fonterra admitting that it broke the law with its Anchor Butter packaging.
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Fonterra admits false “100% New Zealand Grass-fed” Anchor Butter claims broke the law
Greenpeace is celebrating a win against greenwash as Fonterra admits that it broke the law with misleading Anchor Butter claims.
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New Zealand and Ireland announce renewed Greenwash Alliance to cover up methane emissions failures – Greenpeace
Greenpeace says a new partnership between Ireland and New Zealand is nothing but a ‘Greenwash Alliance’ to cover up agricultural methane emissions.
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Greenpeace hold nitrate emergency demonstration outside Environment Southland meeting
Greenpeace demonstrates outside Environment Southland, calling on councillors to declare a nitrate emergency.
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Greenpeace says Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell leaves behind a toxic environmental legacy
As Fonterra’s CEO Miles Hurrell resigns after eight years, Greenpeace warns that his successor has been left with a toxic mess to clean up.
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Renewed calls for Govt to lower nitrate contamination limits, following Danish precedent
A Greenpeace open letter calls on the New Zealand government to put public health above industry profits by lowering the drinking water legal limit for nitrate.
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Open letter to Govt: lower drinking water nitrate limits
A Greenpeace open letter calls on the New Zealand Government to protect public health by lowering the legal limit for nitrate in drinking water.
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