The majority of New Zealand’s once pristine rivers and streams have been rendered unswimmable—and some of its water supplies undrinkable—by contamination from the country’s intensive agro-food industry. Although environmental issues, including agricultural policy, were debated ahead of New Zealand’s general election in September, little has been done since a new coalition government took power. In an email interview, Mike Joy, a senior lecturer in ecology at Massey University in New Zealand, discusses the dangers of intensified farming and successive governments’ failure to find solutions. WPR: How have changes in New Zealand’s agro-food industry over the past decade led to a […]
