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Looking after the people who grow the food

Organic isn't only about what goes on the paddock. It's about who's standing in it.

Oliver de Groot, Organic Matters

Reported by Farmers Weekly. Written up here from their account and from the sources listed below.

4 min read · 12 August 2026

Conventional agriculture asks farmers and orchard workers to handle products that carry warning labels for a reason. Removing synthetic pesticides from a farming system removes that exposure from the people who live and work there first — the grower, their family, the crew, and the neighbours downwind.

The wellbeing case runs further. Organic conversion is hard, and the loneliest part is the middle: costs are up, the premium hasn't arrived, and the neighbours have opinions. Farms that make it through almost always have a network. That is why regional networks are built into this platform rather than bolted on — a grower in conversion in Ruawai should be one tap away from someone in Methven who's already done it.

There is now a group doing exactly this. Young Organic Growers Alliance Aotearoa (YOGAA) launched in 2026 for organic growers, horticulturists, agriculturalists and viticulturists aged 40 and under. Before its first meeting, 70 members had joined.

YOGAA's launch, a midwinter gathering at Monavale Organic Blueberries near Cambridge on 12th of June showcased what New Zealand's potential is. The chefs at Cafe Irresistiblue prepared an entire organic menu featuring locally sourced organic produce from members of YOGAA.

YOGAA's co-ordinator, Wairarapa market gardener Alex Morrissey, has been plain about the reasoning for establishing this group: organic growers frequently work in isolation, and a peer group lets them fix problems together, push on advocacy and policy, and look after each other's heads as well as their soil. Members so far are mostly vegetable and fruit growers; the alliance is openly recruiting from animal protein and viticulture.

That matters beyond good company. The average age of New Zealand's primary producers keeps climbing, organic conversion is a three-year financial leap, and horticulture now carries an entry price most people under forty cannot reach alone. A generation that knows each other is a generation that can buy machinery together, share certification costs, and take a seat at policy tables as a bloc rather than one at a time.

Inclusiveness is not a footnote to this mission. Organic growing in Aotearoa includes whānau trusts returning ancestral land to production, migrant and seasonal workers who deserve accredited employment and decent accommodation, women who run a large and under-credited share of the country's market gardens, disabled growers and visitors who need a farm gate that's physically reachable, and new growers who can't afford a $600,000 entry ticket to horticulture.

Got a question about where your food comes from? Producers listed on this website are standing in their paddocks right now. Ask them.