the meaning of organic farming to the grower and consumer

8/14/2019 The Meaning of Organic Farming to the Grower and Consumer

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Interpreting Organic Grower Community in Canterbury

New Zealand

by Wardah Alkatiri

Student ID: 1087803

Social Science Research Methods (Qualitative) SOCI 602

Lincoln University New Zealand


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Abstract:

This essay presents the study of organic farming movement in New Zealand

undertaken by investigating the grower community in Canterbury who uses Biological

Husbandry Unit (BHU) at Lincoln University as a learning center where the community

member studies, exchanges news and information, develops activities and further establishes

networking with organic growers throughout the country. The study shows that even though

New Zealand possesses favorable preconditions for the success of organic farming

movement, such as the environmental conditions and hard working agrarian culture, but

paradoxically, the main challenge for the future of organic farming in this country lies itself

in the productionism agrarian values, which upon their interaction with the growing influence

of global economy and the highly capitalistic ideology in it, has made it even more difficult

for New Zealand people to appreciate anything that does not give excellent material yields

and physical performance. At the moment, this norms and cultures are likely to be the main

obstacle in instigating organic farming paradigm in the government level likewise in the

population, as self-sufficient movement to combat the likely challenge of climate change in

the near future. Regrettably, contrary to the widely known New Zealand green and clean

image, the study found evidences of environmental degradation in Canterbury and that

contra-organic farming current is also quite obvious in New Zealand as elsewhere in the

world.

Acknowledgement

Id like to thank everyone who helped in the making of this project.

- Bill Martin, manager of the BHU

- Gilda Otway, BHU mentor

- Ivan Barren, BHU mentor

- Tineke, manager of Piko Whole Food, Christchurch

- Two respondents, the BHU students

- Christine Dann, Writer for Organic NZ Magazine


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I. Introduction:

My commitment to organic ideals whereby man grows, farms, and produces

environmentally and socially responsible, has now reached the second decade. It was a nave

young womans passion at the beginning and over this period, as I grew up spiritually and

mentally, the passion has changed substantially in its sense of inquiry and its significance. I

used to see organic as merely non-chemical substitute to conventional farming, a purely

natural way of producing food to guarantee perfect meal for the eater. As such, the emphasis

was health benefit for the consumer. This journey brought me to meet a number of amazing

people, among them are the Catholic Franciscan father in west Java, a European man who

then became my first mentor in organic farming and its ideals, the many like-minded friends

sharing organic soul in different places in Java and Bali, and as I became more and more

engaged in the farming affairs, I turned to really enjoy it despites all its problems and

headaches. Organic farmers in Indonesia, just like in other developing countries, are

struggling to keep on producing in contrast to the notion that this method would engender

benefits for everyone involved: farmer, nature and consumer.

In the next stage, I came to encounter people who turned out to be giving profound

lessons: they were the puny Java farmers - poor people who were strong in adversity and rich

in hope - both the conventional and native (local version of organic) farmers alike. The

organic health benefit, as it initially kindled my excitement, now seems subsided as bigger

issues coming out. Confronted with the struggles those small peasants have to carry out, that

self-centered point of view for organic appeared to be somewhat shameful. My initial

question Why cant the farmers grow healthier produce for consumer? was now reversed.

The new question arose was Can organic really better them off? What benefits can this

method bring to these people? I started to see the exigencies of works in appropriate

disciplines of science and simple technology to face the challenge of making organic farmingeconomically, besides socially and environmentally, feasible. It has to take account the

constrains that small (especially, poor) farmers normally have. Since that revealing moment

if I keep on choosing organic produce, provided my pocket allowed, as an expression to

support this movement, it is more toward ethical and spiritual reasons rather than health, and

if there were such health benefit, at least in the karmic sense, I believe.


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The abovementioned background has laid rationale and sense of inquiry I have got in

conducting this research project for Social Science Research Method (Qualitative) course.

2. Methodological approach:

This research is an attempt to get a comprehensive view of New Zealand organic

farming situation through an investigation into its community grower in Canterbury region. I

am interested to know how the New Zealand organic growers are doing so far and what

meanings does organic have to the grower as well as to the consumer. My goal is to achieve

general impression of what initiating factors as a well as meanings which have been the

reason for growers conversion from conventional to organic, and what keeps them doing

that after certain period of time, given the more troublesome requirement this farming

technique imposes on its practitioners. Additionally I would like to get some indications of

the likelihood of organic farming movement in New Zealand in the future. Measuring the

level of growers and consumers comprehension about the holistic idea of organic is perhaps

too hard to quantify due to its intangible nature, but such impressions could possibly be

obtained through qualitative approach. Besides, with a focus on investigating the meaning

attached to organic for the actors, qualitative as opposed to the quantitative research

techniques is the appropriate method.

3. The study:

The setting of the research is Canterbury organic grower community centered at the

Organic Training College of Aotearoa New Zealand or the Biological Husbandry Unit

(BHU) of Lincoln University. The study was based on observation at the college programmes

and the semi-structured interviews with 6 persons: the BHU manager and mentors, the 2

students, and the manager of Piko Whole Food an organic retail shop in Kilmore Street,

Christchurch. Other contextual information about organic farming in New Zealand to support

the field work findings was obtained from an interview with a writer Organic NZ magazine.


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4. Aotearoa Organic Training (the BHU)

The BHU (Biological Husbandry Unit) was established in 1976, but Bill said that it

had not done anything organic until 2001. In August 2001 it was relaunched as the BHU

Organic Trust, a charitable trust. Bill has just been there since October 2007 and the first

intake student started in January 2008 and they are having the second intake at the moment.

People know the program through word of mouth. The BHU then features a diverse range of

organic agricultural and horticultural systems that are used for research, demonstration and

education. In its education affair the BHU functions as Organic Training College of

Aotearoa New Zealand working with Telford Rural Polytechnic in Otago. It delivers

Telford qualifications and national Horticulture Certificates. The college is eligible forfunding through the ministry of education and start up funding from ministry of social

development and the logic behind that is to train long-term unemployed people. They also

got some startup funding through OANZ. The university also supports the college by

providing all the facilities and free of charge electricity and telephone.

The Organic Training College delivers practical and theory training in organic

horticulture utilizing 10 hectares of certified organic gardens and orchards and the on-site

propagation and greenhouse facilities and classrooms. The BHU has plenty of land available

if they needed some expansion in the future. The training is practical hands-on plant

cultivation and face-to-face tuition. Teaching staff have a high level of experience in certified

organic production, and a wide range of organic certified vegetables and fruit are grown and

marketed. The training content is NZQA unit standard based. The organic horticulture

training comprises of two years programme with more theoretical material in the first year

and more practical in the second year. It is very important to note that this is a zero fees

program for New Zealand citizen and upon completion the student get NZQA National

Certificate in Horticulture. In year one, students is taught the fundamental of growing things

organically, such as sowing, planting and harvesting organic crops, composting and liquid

fertilizers, vermiculture (worm farming), soil biology and management, plant structure and

function, organic pest and disease control, organic weed identification and management,

shelter selection, planting and maintenance, companion planting, beekeeping, permaculture


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(permanent agriculture), introduction to pruning, the development of organic in New

Zealand, chainsaw use and safety, and also tractor driving. In two, through hands-on

practical work the student studies organic standards and certification, planning for organicproduction, beekeeping, permaculture, plant propagation from seed and cuttings, fruit tree

pruning and train, marketing, water use and quality, applied soil management, plant growth

factors, processes and lifecycles, and at last the study of legal requirement for a horticultural

business. Full-time and part-time choices are available for students and accommodation in

the Lincoln University Halls of residence may be available for Organic Training College

students too.

There are quite varieties of students. In terms of age from twentieth to mature adult,

in terms of background some had had other careers before, in terms of experience and

qualification there are some who had good qualification in other area from past career. The

common quality is that they are all interested in organic. The students intention are also

various. Half of them intend to work in organic industry, processor, retailer, or grow

themselves, and there are also the hobbyists. The students are able to grow and sell

organically certified produce on the BHU farm as part of Year two programme. Students

work with a local organic grower as a mentor to plan and market their crops. Year two

students can apply for New Zealand Nature Farming Society scholarship. The successful

applicant will receive a weekly grant to manage the Kyusei model garden over the summer

growing season as well as airfares and accommodation to attend Kyusei nature farming

training workshop in Thailand. Kyusei nature farming was developed in Japan with the

objective of producing food that is safe and free of harmful chemicals and toxic materials.

For many years the practitioners of Kyusei nature farming adopted the organic farming

system, with little results to provide adequate food for the majority of the population. In

1980s,

Prof. Dr. Teruo Higa introduced the concept of Effective Micro organism (EM) to

Kyusei nature farming. Thus, a group of beneficial micro organism were cultured and used as

means of improving soil conditions, suppressing disease inducing microbes, and improving

the efficiency of organic matters utilization by crops. This technology is called EM

technology and the international network of scientist in the Asia Pacific region is then called

Asia Pacific Natural Agriculture Network (APNAN) that was formed in Thailand to promote


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research, education practices and technologies. The main theme of Kyusei nature farming is

to practice an IDEAL AGRICULTURE which is Take of the earth only What You can

Return Again and Use of Beneficial Micro Organism in Agriculture. With this principleof ideal agriculture advocated by Kyusei nature farming, the following five principles shall

be yielded:

1. it produces safe and nutritious food to enhance human health

2. it is economically and spiritually beneficial to both producers (farmers) and

consumers

3. it is sustainable and easily practiced by everyone

4. it conserves our environment

5. it produces sufficient food of high quality for an expanding world population.

5. The interpretation of New Zealand Organic Farming

From the interview with a writer for Organic NZ magazine, the study discovers that

New Zealand had one of the world first organic gardening organizations started in 1941

called Compost Society, which then changed its name to Soil and Health. They had been

publishing a magazine started just as a newsletter for 60 years and today the association

publishes Organic NZ Magazine. It appears that organic farming in the level of home

garden or hobbyist has deeply-rooted in New Zealand agrarian culture. There are still some

elders who were part of the association who joined that in 1940, which are pretty old now.

Margaret Jones was mentioned to be one of them, considered amazing woman in Auckland.

The association stayed as organic gardening club until the 1980s when things started to

change, and people started to grow commercially and the retail outlets began to be available.

Part of the growth on organic sale in NZ today has been actually import, unfortunately, even

for the things that is easy to grow here like oats, because they still not producing enough forthe local markets.

There are two major organic grower groups in NZ, a group called Organic Aotearoa

New Zealand, OANZ it is of industry body that has been going for about 15 years. It is run

by John Tennan based in Wellington. Another one is the group of small grower, Organic

Farmer NZ (OFNZ), for people who only grow for the local market and not exporting, and


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they are developing a different certification system. For the people who are exporting they

have to be certified to meet an international standard and for the local market New Zealand

has the biogro standard and now the demeter standard which is the biodynamic one.Theres also a couple of other agri quality standard for export and they are recognized by

IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement). To overcome the cost

issues for small grower, OFNZ has different standard of certification. It tailored a system of

peer to peer certification for small grower. A group of organic farmers in one region get

together and they work out some kind of inspecting each others property.

Because NZ exports most of the food that it produces, commercial organic farming

really took off when the GE (Genetically Engineered) food came along in late 1980s and the

buying countries in Europe demanded more stringent trade standard in GE and pesticide

residue in food as more people wanting to consume food no longer treated chemically.

Actually NZ was one of the last rich countries to ban the organo-chlorine pesticides. It was

still using the DDT and things like that until the late 1960s to early 1970s. Exports have risen

from $10 million per annum in 1996 to around $70 million in 2001, and the domestic market

has grown from $32 million in 2000 to $71 million in 2002. (Murray Doak, MAF technical

paper, 2003). There are many examples across every primary production sector of

commercially oriented farmers successfully producing organic products to high international

standards.

From the observation at the BHU courses the study found that organic farming in New

Zealand is generally mechanized farming method rather than manual as the case in

developing countries. Greenhouse is a standard practice in organic vegetable growing here

and the grower generally can afford it, whereas in developing countries greenhouse is not

normally used because the small grower economic scale can not possibly cover it. There are

varieties of machineries and natural substitutes to agro-chemicals available in New Zealand

market which is advantageous for new grower in their early stage of conversion from

conventional to organic because then they do not have to invent by themselves as the case in

developing countries. One of them that study finds to be of importance in Canterbury is

Physical Weeding, a company of Charles Merfield, an organic researcher and consultant who

received his Master and PhD at Lincoln University in agro ecology and organic crop


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production. He appears to be an important figure in the BHU. His company designs specialist

physical weeding machinery as well as consultancy and advice in physical, cultural and

biological weed management for agriculture practice that avoid chemical herbicide in weedcontrol such as organic farming. They produce various products, steam weeders, flame

weeders, four wheel hoe, and false seed bed tillers. From the observation at the BHU the

study finds variety of technical know-how has been normally applied in New Zealand

organic farming, for example is what was found in the BHU apple orchard: the use of

pheromone traps with sticky base to monitor the insect pest using synthetic pheromone, a

hormone signal that triggers a natural response in another member of the same species. Also,

as reported by a BHU mentor, homeopathic remedies is available and proved to be successful

in animal rising in New Zealand. Additionally, the study found a generally susceptible

atmosphere toward changes and movement around sustainability ideals in New Zealand

society. It is due primarily to the agrarian culture of the nation and the relatively higher level

of education of the population that they are more environmentally conscious, compared to

developing countries like Indonesia, which even though agrarian culture is their culture

historically but agriculture is perceived to symbolize backwardness these days and therefore

society in general tries their best to avoid. Among the examples in New Zealand are

community garden and food garden which can be found here and there in Canterbury,

whereas in other developed countries are quite new ideas and in many cases simply rhetoric.

However, regretfully the study also finds various instances perceived to be of

disadvantageous to organic farming movement in New Zealand and becomes the imminent

challenge against the movement, i.e. :

a. the evidences of growing environmental degradation

b. contra organic farming debates in academic circle

c. the influence of global economy and the penetration of highly capitalistic logic in

New Zealand productionism and productivity paradigm, will potentially destroy the

agriculture and the environment of New Zealand.


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A. Environmental degradation in New ZealandWhat follows are the expressions of several respondents concerning the growing

environmental depletion in New Zealand, one was made by an immigrant who came toNew Zealand some years ago, and the other one came here quite recently.

since I came to New Zealand 13 years ago, the environmental degradation inNew Zealand is incredible. In the past drinking water from stream was not anissue, it was clean. The landscape here is changing rapidly too, where before youhad a lot of shelterbelt and there were a lot of apple orchards around here, now itall has been cut down, either you have subdivision or you have dairy farms. Dairyfarming in Canterbury is extremely demanding because there is not enoughresource for them. For dairy you need basically grass. Historically, in Canterbury,during the summer there was no grass, because there was no water, at least not

enough rain. So what they do know they use irrigation to keep the grass growing.It definitely helps the grass but you deplete the natural reservoir. So there is lessflow of water in the stream and there is more pollution going into the stream, soyou have less water and more pollution, you know, the combination islikehahahathe local lake and stream are definitely getting polluted now. Andbecause there is much money involved in dairy, not only in making money butalso in investment, there is always the drive to increase production, in order toincrease production you have to use more water, and for more water now theywant to harvest water from the stream main river in Canterbury as well, so theproblem will become worse. Well, thats here in Canterbury, although up to thehill you will find it very pristine. [Notes-6, 7]

I found it quite interestinghaving got here with New Zealand Clean and Greenimage, as to how that myth is almost been a bit dispelled by learning what wevedone in the class [Notes-7, 3]

Two respondents talked about pesticide contamination in New Zealand soils:

Most New Zealanders are not even aware of the amount of pesticides in theirfood or in the environment, there is a terrible lot of it, and its gettingworse [Notes-9, 3]

Well, I will say the best soils here have been sprayed with DDT.[Notes-3, 1]

Another finding is what is presented by by Robin Wybrow, (Upoko o Te Rununga O

Wairewa chair of Wairewa Runanga project) at an annual gathering in the BHU. It was a

discussion about the restoration of the Roto Wairewa (Lake Forsyth) on Banks Peninsula,


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which is severely degraded lake ecosystem with eutrophication (a process whereby water

bodies receive excess nutrients that stimulates excessive plant growth), algae blooms and

sedimentation problems. Wairewa Runanga has a long term vision of rehabilitation for thelake and its surrounds. The Runanga have brought up together a group of researcher to

provide science back up to this vision. The institution plans for an inherited farm which spans

Te Oka Bay to Magnet Bay and up to 900 m (1900ha). They would like to farm this

organically. Interestingly enough, in his presentation Robin was quoting several Maori

traditional teachings with regard to natural balance, such as when he said: the water from

land feeds the Takaroa, and the whale are part of our Mahinga Kai Whakapapa. He was

trying to get across the intuitive understanding of ecological balance between land and the

sea [Notes-1, 1].

B. Contra-organic debateThe pros and cons in organic farming are prevailing everywhere, but it is of big surprise

to me that it also happens even in a green and clean country like New Zealand. Two

respondents have expressed these facts:

I happened to meet soil scientist from Lincoln University, actually hes a professor,

and he claimed that there is absolutely no proofs that in conventional farming andorganic farming there is different in degradation of the soil. So, from his perspective,doing organic is simply not an option. [Notes-6, 11]

Health Department does a kind of surveys of pesticides residue levels every 3 or4 years and they always find some and they always say, o thats not significant.[Notes-9, 3]

C. The Influence of global economy and the penetration of highly capitalistic logic inthe New Zealand productionism and productivity paradigm

Agriculture sector has traditionally contributed a huge share in NZ economy through the

export to its traditional markets, the UK and European countries, thus any attempt to

analyze organic movement in this country should put this fact in perspective as this

background must have largely shaped the peoples paradigm and the government policies

towards agriculture and resource management. The study found that this background


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which at the first glance looks favorable to organic farming movement in the country

endowed with so much environmental purity, after a deeper investigation the study found

it out to be paradoxical. Agrarianism, the belief that farming is the most importanteconomic activities (Egoz at al, 2001) has historically been a culture of New Zealand as a

farming nation. However, New Zealands legacy of a hardworking settler mentality has

ingrained highly productionism and productivity paradigms in its agrarian worldviews

which have historically been contributive to New Zealand success in developing

agriculture as the main support of its economy, paradoxically in the context of organic

farming they becomes inherent obstacle. Productionism is the value of extracting

maximum yields from the land, and productivity is the value of optimum production

without compromising the environment (Egoz at al,2001). These two paradigms, often

called NPK mentality, are apparently in contradiction with organic ideals. NPK are

initials from the periodic table for nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, three chemical

nutrients crucial to plant growth has been used as the main formula in chemical

fertilizers, and its invention had triggered the Green Revolution, the transformation of

agriculture, began in 1945. NPK mentality is believed by the proponent of organic

movement to be one of the keys to everything wrong with modern civilization. The

worldwide influence of global economy seems to be present everywhere including New

Zealand. The NPK mentality inherently attached in New Zealand agrarian ideologies is

prone to capitalistic principles in the logic of global economy. Some findings and

interviews suggest unfavorable indications to the future of New Zealand agriculture in

this respect.

There are friends that I know have sold up the farms, largely because they juststruggle and struggle, and not being financially beneficial too, because the value ofthe land has increased dramatically [Notes-8, 9]

Dairy has brought the big changes in land values. Dairy farmers have moved outfrom the north island, down here to south island where they could buy anything up tothousand numbers of acres for the values of a small of that block in the north island.So, in other word if you would buy hundred acres in the north island they will beworth, ..I think we are talking $18 thousands an acre, where is down here they canbuy land at around probably two to three thousands an acre. Because they have the


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capital to come down they might to come down with million dollars to buy threethousand acre down here and set up a business [Notes-8, 10]

Corporate organization, thats the other thing that has driven diary to the southisland, because big company has set up and force the land value quite high. Butgenerally farming is going to keep going but its quite questionable whether it canalways be in competitive margin worldwide, and sheep farming has always been verylow income. Sheep and beef are probably always been stretched. A lot of these localfarms are going,you know, people are struggling they dont get the amount of feed asneeded, so their cost has to go up with irrigation. [Notes-8, 11]

6. Organic meaning to the actors

To interpret the meaning that organic has to the actors - who in this research are the

Canterbury organic grower community and the Christchurch consumer - the research uses

symbolic interactionism methodology designed to yield verifiable knowledge of human

group life and human conduct. Symbolic interactionism rests on three simple premises. The

first premise is that human being act toward things on the basis of the meaning that the things

have for them. The second premise is that the meaning of such things is derived from or

arises out of, the social interaction that one has with ones fellows. The third premise is that

these meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretative process used by the

person in dealing with the things he encounters. (Blumer H, 1969). Symbolic interactionism

is grounded on a number of basic ideas refer to and depict the nature of the following matters

that were used in the analysis of the data. Taken together, these basic ideas represents the

way in which symbolic interactionism views human society and conduct concerning organic.

The organic grower and consumer respondent of the study was interpreted through a

framework of meaning sorted out into five categories:

1. Economic: This group includes the meanings of organic derived from agrarianism

culture, and every physical, material, and economic reasons that makes the actor

ready to act towards, or against, organic.

2. Survivalistic: It is a person who has personal or group survival as primary goal in the

face of difficulty, opposition and the threat of natural calamity. The study defines

survivalist meaning of organic is what reflected by the acts toward organic initiated


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by food-scares (chemical-fear and GE-fear), and health problems, both the curative

and preventive efforts. This category is applicable only to consumer.

3.

Self-efficacy: Self-efficacy is persons belief about his/her ability and capacity to dealwith the challenge. Ones sense of self-efficacy can play a major role in how one

approaches goals, tasks, and challenges (Albert Bandura, cognitive psychologist). The

study identified organic phenomenon possessing self-efficacious meaning to certain

actors symbolizing his/her ability to face the challenge posed by natural calamity such

as climate change, contaminated nature, and the threat of food scarcity. This category

is very much like category-2 Survivalist, but Self-efficacy is applicable only to the

grower.

4. Community: To some actors organic may simply means community and societal

works. Common example of this category is community garden and church garden

5. Unitive anthropology: It is a spiritual anthropology which views man not separate

form the universe (nature and human being) nor is universe apart from man. The bond

and unity between man and the universe implies that mans awareness and knowledge

of the two are not separate and distinct from each other (Hamid Parsania,

philosopher). Including in this category are the actor having ethical and spiritual

reasons of acting toward organic, whereby the ethical reason includes both ethical

toward other human being or nature.

6.1. Economic:

Agriculture in NZ has been contributing a huge percentage to the countrys economy, and

therefore the meaning of organic farming to the majority of New Zealander is about the

economic reasons. There are two groups under this category:

*) Hamid Parsania, Existence and the Fall:Spiritual Anthropology of Islam, ICAS Press, London,

2006.


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a) the first group is people who only see better market values of organic for the GE-fear

and chemical-fear market. Interestingly the study did not find any samples from this

group. It seems there is no longer opportunistic organic grower in Canterbury after alarge number of dropped out in the last years as reported by the respondents. [Notes-

6, 10], [Notes-7, 6] [Notes-8, 7]

b) the second group is people looking for ways of stewardship of their land, given the

premise of organic is about more than just chemical-free farming, but also about not

polluting the soil and the environment and giving back to the earth what has been

taken out. The study found two respondents looking soil maintenance and

rehabilitation functions of organic as the most important.

the main reason that a lot of people today are looking at organic is trying to stabilizesoil condition and to be able to grow things supposedly not chemically treated. I thinkwe do seriously need to locate a lot more soil science, here we need to look back ofwhat soil conditions with nutrients that hundred years and see where we are today,and then should try to redevelop. [Notes-8, 1]

if organic is gonna go anywhere its got to do something back to the grass root, wegot to go back and think what was the soil of antiquity and why isnt like that today,and what can we do to put it back. Too many organic farmers out there say Im

organic farmer but theyre not really looking after the soil, and I feel, Im quite strongon that, even here, very-very frustrating that we havent tried to develop better soiltype [Notes-8, 5]

One respondent answered assertively soil maintenance, definitely when asked the

main reason of his interest in organic farming [Notes-6, 9].

The acute problem in farming work is nevertheless its high level of uncertainty, especially if

it is compared with other professions available in modern world. A student at the BHU

clearly cited that, farming is great, but you never know whats gonna come out [Notes-4,

11]. In brief, this is a challenge to the future of agriculture in New Zealand, both organic and

conventional, after the country is being in more intensive interaction with other cultures

brought in by what is called globalization.


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6.2. Survivalisict:

Early food scares were usually linked to the use of pesticides and weed killers on crops, but

these days the concerns vary widely from GE corn to mad cows. Widely publicized foodscares combined with increased consumer awareness are driving consumer to buy organic

produce in wealthy countries. From an observation and interview with organic retail outlet in

Christchurch the study found that concern over food quality are the main reasons for eating

organic.

we have mothers who want their children to eat good food too. They may not be ableto buy everything, but they say they want to buy at least vegetables organic [Notes-3, 9]

sometime people find out that they are being allergic and start to react to things andthey find out that organic is better [Notes-3, 9]

We were starting to grow in the 1980s and but it was really not until the 1990 andwe had the GE thing come along, that it really took off in term of more peoplewanting to consume organic [Notes-9, 2]

Organic farming is possibly a jargon because of the need for hmm people wantingfood thats no longer been treated chemically and all those appears that the adoptionof organic farming in the big large scale is huge [Notes-8, 1]

However, the study also found an interesting instance of contra-productive character to

organic farming movement in New Zealand. It is the perception that the country is clean and

green already, so there is no point to eat organic.

there is the perception of New Zealand as clean and green country, so there is nopoint of paying extra for organic. If everything is clean and green, you do not need toeat organic [Notes-6, 10]

6.3. Self-efficacy:

According to psychologist Albert Bandura, people who regard themselves as highly

efficacious, act, think, and feel differently from those who perceive themselves as

inefficacious, they produce their own future rather than simply foretell it. The implication is

that peoples level of motivation, affective states, and actions are based more on what they


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believe than on whats objectively true. For this reason, how people behave can often be

better predicted by the beliefs they hold about their capabilities than by what they are

actually capable of accomplishing, for these self-efficacy perceptions help determine whatindividuals do with the knowledge and skills they have. One of the four sources of

information used by individuals when forming self-efficacy judgments is Performance

accomplishments, i.e. personal assessment information that is based on an individuals

personal accomplishments, such as previous success raise mastery expectations while

repeated failures lower them. The study found self efficacy among the meanings of organic

farming has to some growers. People in this group are willing to master organic farming

skills for self-sufficiency ideas such growing your own food, to earn the feeling of being

well-prepared in facing the challenge of what is believed to be food scarcity and climate

change in the near future. Hannah is a new immigrant from UK, coming to seek better life, to

have slight change of lifestyle, to make family more self-sufficient, and to find ways of

making saving because she believes that living cost in NZ is lower than in the UK, and she

believes that NZ offers the opportunity to buy property with some land that she will not be

able to do in the UK. She has interest in gardening and growing as a hobby in the UK and

that was why she found organic training. She had never been particularly purchased organic

foods in the UK but if she was growing something she would want to do it organically as

opposed to using conventional methods. Thats really where she came to. She answered

clearly that she is interested in organic prospect of being of used in the self sufficiency ideas

[Notes-7, 1&2], although sometimes not understood by others.

My son thought I was mad,..hahahadoing something like this, hahaha, hes ateenager, he couldnt quite get the idea that Mom wasnt earning very much, wasthe main issue thereyou know I kept on saying, James, we cant afford to buy thisand that this week, hahahaI think then he sort of come into the idea, weve got a

couple of program recently on the TV in view of possible food crisis is looming inyears to come, so then he thought, oh ok, that now was possibly mom and dad hadthought it through and got the idea that you could cover yourself hopefully, to cutout some other stresses [Notes-7, 7].

Another respondent in this group gave his reasons for organic farming in community garden

is to teach people to grow their own food.


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My mission was to encourage and teach people to grow their own food. So, thatsthe idea behind it. In this country everybody has got at least a small piece of land,

instead of growing stupid grows they might as well grow tomatoes and cucumbers[Notes-6, 3]

I find it useful for the small grower and domestic grower, its actually easier to doorganic. Because, firstly you dont need fancy tools, machinery, chemicals, andsecondly when you grow yourself you always have too much produces, so it doesntmatter if you have tomato plant instead of producing 60 kg a year you produce 15 kg,because its enough [Notes-6, 8]

However, it appears that the same obstacle by productionist agrarian worldview seems to bepresent here impeding the effort to instigate grow your own food instead of growing stupid

grows organic farming campaign in New Zealand.

The message is filtering through slowly. There are two issues here, one is their dayis very busy, and you do need time to do vegetable garden, especially if you dontreally enjoy doing it and if you just do it for the sake of food, you will ask yourself,well, how much money do I save. And the other issue is many people like theirgarden at home to be very tidy, but vegetable garden is not tidy, its only tidy for ashort period of time and as you start harvesting its not tidy anymore, and peoplehere are really crazy about tidy garden. So, I think thats an obstacle. You know, youneed a small compost heap, yeah, it just doesnt work for them. Planting grass iseasier. [Notes-6, 4]

6.4. Community:

Community garden may provide opportunity to strengthen the connection between

individuals and their surroundings, and therefore some people practice organic farming in

community garden to create social ties with their surrounding. The study found a

respondent participated in community garden in Purau. Theyve got a number of plots

and have also done talks on trying to have initiative work by the experienced gardener to

go and help the beginner gardener set up their own vegetable garden in their own homes.

It was a kind of community education project to help people new to gardening and also

involved the youth group to get them coming to plot and do working.

In the community garden they are 2 families, retired couples, another youngerfamily, couple of single gentlemen, so it is a good mix of ages, and also, in DiamondHarbor they are hoping to involve the youth group and getting some of them in


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coming to plot and do working, and we have occasional sort of join work togetherbuilt the compost altogether andyou know, make the pile things like that. [Notes-7, 8]

Really good sort of camaraderie within the student here [Notes-7, 9]

6.5. Unitive Anthropology:

The ecological premise that everything is connected to everything else is essentially deeply-

seated in everyones intuitive understanding of the universe, whether he/she is learned or not,

unless it is veiled by self-interest or greed. Therefore, human being is always driven by moral

pressure from within. This tenet is firmly attested in perennial philosophy or the traditionalist

doctrine unitive anthropology which suggests that man has inner binding with nature, and

that every human being yearn that paradisal innocence of virgin nature because they still

carries that primordial nature in the deepest recesses of his being. (Seyyed Hossein Nasr,

Religion and the Order of Nature, Oxford University Press, 1996). The study recognizes such

esoteric meaning that organic farming has to some actors and tried to capture the

phenomenon in the following examples. People in this group act toward organic for deep

spiritual reasons which sometimes hard to be paraphrased because it is ineffable and possibly

not easily be understood by other people who have no contemplative character. The more

commensurable reason among them are what is reflected as ethical reasons, including peoplewho believe that organic is the way to better world because it stands for three principles:

environmental friendly, fair trade and food safety. The study found four important examples

to adduce this proposition. One is of a Middle-Eastern respondent, another one of Asian

mature adult couple, and some Hindus and Buddhist vegetarian customers in organic retail

outlet that I did not have a chance to interview, and the last one was organic grower

supplying produce to Piko organic retail outlet.

1) an interview with middle-eastern respondent (he is a New Zealand resident, going through

organic training):

Soil maintenance, definitely! (he considered soil maintenance to be the most importantmeaning of organic for him, but yet he is not a farmer nor having land to farm in NewZealand), when I inquired further, why?, is that because soil is the beginning? He


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answered Thats the beginning and the end too, exactly, and I continued inquiring youmean, from where we issue and to where we returned?, he answered absolutely,absolutely, yesss, (laugh), because for me human being, and animal and everything else, is

basically from the same components you find in the soil, except different combination .[Notes-6, 9]

His response to my question on how he defines organic: Its a big question, organic is a mixbetween science and witchcraft, because a lot of stuffs in organic actually does seem to work

but there is no scientific proofs behind it. So, it works empirically but there is no theory to

support it. But to me, if it works because it works after hundred of years of experience. you

know, the classic example is growing tomatoes next to sweet basil, and the question is why

exactly these combination work well? There is no scientific reason, but if it works then why

not use it?. [Notes-6, 9]

2) observation of Asian couple:

He was a retired teacher and when they came to NZ he started to know organic growing. Heexclaimed how foolish I used to be, I didnt know this, and I wonder how unfortunatepeople out there who do not know such beautiful things, he was referring beautiful thingsto organic. [Notes-4, 8]

3) organic grower supplier of Piko organic retail.

Our grower has got the philosophy also that they want the people to eat organic food. Its

like a philanthropist attitude, you know..(laugh)..theyre not there to make a lot of money for

themselves. They just believe in a better world, and the better world starts with organic, andbetter world starts with everybody being able to afford organic food, or everybody being able

to afford good food, you know. [Notes-3, 10]

From the limited number of respondents of the study, these findings may suggests to further

elaboration of interesting indication on the phenomena of Eastern-Western mentality,

whereby Easterner views organic farming more through spiritually-embedded ethical

meanings while the Westerner views it more through the rationally-ethical meanings.

7. Conclusion

New Zealand had one of the world first organic gardening organizations started in 1941.

It appears that organic farming in the level of home garden or hobbyist has deeply-rooted in

New Zealand agrarian culture.


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Because NZ exports most of the food that it produces, commercial organic farming really

took off when the GE (Genetic Engineered) food came along in late 1980s and the buying

countries in Europe demanded more stringent trade standard in GE and pesticide residue infood as more people wanting to consume food no longer treated chemically.

There are variety of farming facilities substitutes required by organic farming are

available in New Zealand market which is advantageous for new grower in their early stage

of conversion from conventional to organic because then they do not have to invent by

themselves as the case in developing countries. The study also found a generally susceptible

atmosphere toward changes and movement around sustainability ideals in New Zealand

society. It is due primarily to the agrarian culture of the nation and the relatively higher level

of education of the population that they are more environmentally conscious, compared to

developing countries like Indonesia, which even though agrarian is their culture but

agriculture today is perceived to symbolize backwardness and therefore society in general do

not pay much attention..

However, regretfully the study also finds various instances perceived to be of

disadvantageous to organic farming movement in New Zealand and becomes the imminent

challenge against the movement, i.e. :

1. the evidences of growing environmental degradation

2. contra organic farming debates in academic circle

3. the influence of global economy and the penetration of highly capitalistic logic in New

Zealand productionism and productivity paradigm, will potentially destroy the agriculture

and the environment of New Zealand.

The organic grower and consumer respondent of the study was interpreted through a

framework of meaning sorted out into five categories:

1. Economic

2. Survivalistic

3. Self-efficacy

4. Community

5. Unitive anthropology


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The study concluded, for the sake of the future of New Zealand environment and

agriculture, the government and population needs to be aware of the threats behind whatseemed to be the opportunities of global economy, and to work out policies focusing more on

the self-sufficiency of the country rather than being dragged along by the trade issues around

what the study calls NPK mentality. Being a country with small population and food-

producing ability, New Zealand is actually one of few countries in the world capable of being

self-sufficient in the light of climate change, provided that the government and the people is

able to address the present day challenges. The study suggests that the country needs more

research in sustainable agriculture fields beginning with soil and more media push to

promote sustainability ideals. New Zealand certainly needs to preserve the hard-working

agrarian culture in the society.

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the meaning of organic farming to the grower and consumer

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