Uncategorized Archives

Safe and effective? EPA allows banned sprays, FSANZ fast-tracks GMOs

On 22 August 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in New Zealand issued an alert about the herbicide DCPA. They’ve formed a working group to investigate concerns about its effects on unborn children.

This follows a recent emergency ban by their US counterpart stating that it can cause irreversible damage to fetuses, even at very low exposure levels. In the EU, it has been banned since 2009!

Meanwhile, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) appears to be fast-tracking legislation to reverse a decades-long ban on genetic modification of food (GMOs) in New Zealand. And to do so without consumer labeling requirements.

This seems reckless and counterintuitive. Below I summarise these issues and suggest what you can do to keep toxic sprays and potential frankenfoods out of your kitchen.

How to buy healthy food if the internet goes down

In July 2024, we witnessed the largest IT outage in history. It’s a wake-up call about how much we rely on technology, even for the local organic food on our dinner tables.

I live off-grid, give food security courses and I have a background in IT. I think about this a lot.

How can we buy high-quality, organic food – even when the shiitake hits the fan?

I will go over some basics and tell you how to get an Ooooby box even if we’re without internet and electricity.

How we make homemade granola

It’s kinda ‘nuts’ paying up to $20 for a bag of healthy breakfast cereal.

Especially when this is such a fun (and educational) thing to do with the kids at home.

It’s not hard and doesn’t take long either.

So here’s how to make organic homemade granola at home. The amount of variations are limitless, so have fun with it!

How we afford organic food

It’s June 2024 and I just learned that my house insurance is going up 40%.

It seems like the cost of everything is going up.

My family feels it. Ooooby feels it.

You’re probably feeling it too.

In this environment, the number one thing on my mind is how can I keep my kids healthy, happy and thriving?

We are what we eat, so I’m not gonna sacrifice my kid’s nutrition just because the economy is in a slump.

Fortunately, a few simple changes to our lifestyle have made a huge difference.

And you know what?

We’re healthier and happier as a family for it.

I’d like to share this with you as well as some tips to save on organics.

NZ ‘Fart Tax’: Here’s why the government’s plans are full of hot air

Today farmers are protesting across New Zealand.

The NZ government is pushing forward with its unpopular plans to tax farmers for livestock “emissions”.

Farmers are already struggling as the costs of agricultural inputs, labour and energy go through the roof. Forcing them to pay more tax would be a knockout punch.

Food prices will certainly increase – possibly quite dramatically.

The government claims it is doing this because they say they need to prevent the next global emergency: climate change.

They admit it will cause a “reduction in quality of living” and “increased stress and mental health issues” (Section 4.4).

As co-CEO of Ooooby, a certified permaculture teacher and someone who lives on a sustainable farm, I can confidently say this:

It will be a disaster.

Ooooby and Masterchef Tim Read host intimate dinner to chew over mental health

There is something magical about people sharing good food together.

Interesting and meaningful conversations flow naturally.

An intimate setting inspires conversations that are real, honest and personal.

Over three evenings in July this year Ooooby had the pleasure of collaborating with 2015 MasterChef winner Tim Read to bring people together around a dinner table of wholesome, healthy and finely prepared food.

It’s called Table-Talk.

Its purpose is to create an intimate setting that encourages conversation around nutrition, wellness and mental health.

Total strangers. Personal questions. Zero alcohol.

Here’s what happened…

Bullshit: UK Media claim that organic farming is “the most dangerous”. Here’s why.

An article in The Guardian claims that organic and pasture-fed beef and lamb are “the most damaging farm products” and “arguably the most destructive industry on Earth”.

We find this notion absurd.

At best it demonstrates a shallow understanding of regenerative and organic farming practices. At worst, it’s a direct attack on organic and regenerative farming and shameless promotion for a billion dollar fake meat industry.

7 scientific studies that prove organic foods keep you healthy

Science is finally catching up with common sense.

In recent years a number of important studies have been published that show how eating organic food:

Keeps you healthier
Makes you less likely to develop diseases such as cancer, parkinson’s and autism.
And that conventional food does the opposite

You’ve probably already known this for years.

Maybe you’ve had to learn this through painful personal experience.

I have.

It was painful, and frustrating.

Build and pack flavour into your meals!

“Oh my word that was delicious!!”

“I could eat that all day, every day!”

At first, many of us probably start with food as a means to simply feed ourselves. With time, however and if you become more involved with what you eat and the process of preparing the food, this can evolve. It becomes about health, it becomes about nourishment and it also becomes about joy and experience as you start to fall more and more in love with food.

A meal that is seemingly the same in principal and by name, can be worlds apart in terms of flavour and enjoyment, when created with more intent or by a more experienced cook.

Free Range vs Pasture Raised vs Organic Eggs in NZ

With so many types of eggs and many of them claiming they are “best” it can be confusing for consumers to decide which eggs to buy. This article will focus on the key differences between free range eggs, pasture raised eggs and organic eggs in New Zealand.