For most of us the list of positives about living in New Zealand is extensive and far exceeds the negatives.
But a lack of an international perspective is one point counting against our South Pacific paradise, something you quickly appreciate when in places like Europe.
In Europe you have 500 million neighbours and in just a few hours’ drive you are in a different country, usually with a different international view of the world.
In comparison, NZ’s isolation and distance from key markets restricts that global context, more so when your focus is fixing a fence, milking the cows or sowing a new crop.
Yet this broad perspective is crucial for food producers because the pace at which the world is changing is accelerating and we need to keep up.
And we aren’t.
It wasn’t so long ago the growth of plant-based protein was such that eulogies were being prepared for animal protein products. Just a few short years later, those imposters have virtually disappeared.
Recently animal fats were being categorised as the new tobacco, yet as we reported last week the world wants dairy protein because of its health and wellbeing benefits.
Fads and trends rapidly wax and wane and we need to keep up.
The world’s leading food companies, such as McDonald’s and Mars Wrigley, still want our meat and dairy, there is absolutely no disputing that.
But it’s no longer a linear equation and that is where our lack of international perspective hampers us.
They acknowledge we have a low greenhouse gas emissions footprint, but want more than just our milk powder, butter, cheese or beef. They also want evidence that we take seriously their sustainability and animal welfare concerns.
These standards reflect what their consumers, communities, financiers, owners and, ultimately, their governments require.
Sustainability is no longer a nice-to-have in business these days. It’s a bottom line.
The European Union – unkindly anointed by some as the world’s leading exporter of regulations – has a suite of environmental sustainability policies dubbed the Green Deal.
An indication of its priorities is that they are being implemented despite independent analysis calculating that they will reduce livestock numbers by 10-15%.
Sure we can tell them to take a jump, but these are the high-paying, A-grade customers. Do we really want to be playing with those in the second and third divisions?
We need to act because, as McDonald’s revealed, some countries previously considered pariahs are competing for our spot in the starting XV.
Amazon biome beef farmers are now supplying McDonald’s, prepared to provide irrefutable evidence their production methods are not contributing to rainforest loss.
The world is rapidly changing.
Obviously these additional requirements are daunting for NZ farmers squeezed between low returns and rising costs and facing a financial loss or breakeven situation.
But these major customers are not about to hang us out to dry.
They are investing billions of dollars into supply chain resilience and research into greenhouse gas emission mitigation and they talk openly about paying premium prices to suppliers who meet certain standards.
This may sound fearful, but it also provides an opportunity if we can change our mindset.
The world is changing and we need to adapt so we don’t lose our privileged position.
