Putting farmers’ voice on climate change into our classrooms
A new climate change education resource is being released this week by the New Zealand pastoral farming sector.
The important role of New Zealand dairy and red meat in feeding a growing global population has been co-authored by Federated Farmers of NZ, Beef + Lamb NZ and Dairy NZ. The on-line resource explores the complex relationship between environmental, economic, nutritional, social and global food security outcomes in the New Zealand food system.
‘‘The younger generation in particular has demonstrated concern about the impacts of climate change, and good on them for speaking up and getting involved,’’ Feds President Andrew Hoggard says.
‘‘But it’s important the School Strikers 4 Climate and others in their age group – and indeed everyone trying to get to grips with global warming issues – have access to balanced and accurate information.
‘‘Often the voices of people who produce the food vital to our health, wellbeing and economy are drowned out on social and mainstream media,’’ Andrew says.
The three ag sector groups are in discussions with the Ministry of Education to raise awareness among teachers about the new resource.
The 28-pages of information, fully referenced to research papers and with plenty of graphs and video links, does not attempt to deliver simple answers to complex challenges, but rather to explore these complexities in a straight-forward and science-based manner.
It makes the point that New Zealand as a producer of food for nearly 10 times our own population has a unique emissions profile, and consequently has a unique challenge in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In any debate on the environmental impact of agricultural products, the nutritional value of different foods also has to be considered.
‘‘As the world’s population increases and climate change impacts the ability for many nations to produce enough nutritious food, efficiently produced red meat and dairy will become even more important,’’ Andrew says.
New Zealand pasture-fed beef, lamb, and dairy is world-leading in terms of its low emissions per kilogram of meat and milk. It’s also nutrient dense and provides high-quality protein and micronutrients.
New Zealand red meat and dairy products consumed overseas can result in less greenhouse gas emissions than the same food produced locally, even after the transport emissions involved in shipping
the product across the world are calculated.
Farmers are keenly aware of the challenges posed by climate change. The sector, with government, has invested around $75 million researching ways agriculture can further lighten the sector’s emissions footprint.
The classroom resource also explains the critical differences in terms of atmospheric warming impact between the short-lived ‘flow’ gas methane (mainly burped by ruminant animals, but also leaked from landfills) and the long-lived stock gases carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.
Unfortunately, the current way methane
emissions are reported (GWP100) can be misleading and can result in overreporting in sectors with stable or declining emissions such as the New Zealand livestock sector.
‘‘New Zealand farmers are not shying away from the immense challenges posed by climate change,’’ Andrew says. ‘‘What they’re eager for is a balanced and fair conversation on how we can reduce our environmental impact even further, while still feeding a growing global population.’’
• Search ‘climate change’ on the Federated Farmers of NZ website to find a copy of the resource.