Climate change is coming for our fresh fruit
OPINION: Were lucky in New Zealand, our land of plenty. We grow what we need and import what we like (or can afford) hundreds of tonnes of bananas to pop in school lunch boxes and into $8 smoothies, berries for your morning porridge, mangos for fruit salads and fancy dinner party desserts. But what if the banana bins at our supermarket were suddenly (and permanently) empty, fresh berries no longer plentiful and mangos unable to be sourced? It sounds almost apocalyptic, and it is. Because thats the risk were running due to the devastating effects of climate change and it could happen sooner than we think. It seems that we see on a weekly basis the impact of climate change on our lives. Extreme and unexpected weather changes have both immediate human impact from disaster and long-term systemic changes to the way we do things. READ MORE: * What you can do to help save the planet * Climate Explained: How climate change will affect food production and security * Apricots have arrived already, but that's not necessarily a good thing Food is an example of the latter. While the floods in the UK or China or fires in California make headlines, what doesnt make the press is the almost total loss of the raspberry crop and 70 per cent loss of blackberry crop in Oregon in June due to a heatwave which swept through the Pacific Northwest. In March and April, some unseasonal frosts descended across Europe caused by a cold Arctic plume of air. Declared as an agricultural disaster by the French Government, this plume of freezing air did damage much further south than was realised at the time. Italy, Spain , Serbia, Greece and even Turkey have all been affected. This is likely to have particular impact on stone fruit grape and cherry crops have been impacted, but apricots in Turkey have also been partially hit. Marlborough saw a similar issue this year with a whopping 21 per cent drop in crop caused by early frosts during flowering season. In Chile and Argentine, which together account for 40 per cent of the worlds exports of prunes, massive rainfall in February caused a 50 per cent loss in prune crop, and were seeing the impact of this with out-of-stock issues and price rises in supermarkets. In West Africa, where much of the worlds premium tropical fruit is grown, the wind pattern has changed in three of the last four years, bringing warmer currents through the region during critical stages in the fruits development. Harvest yields have been halved and the farmers, who mostly run small holdings as family businesses, are struggling. These events are no longer one off, regionally limited events. The changes are increasingly systemic and the long-term outlook for our ability to grow high-quality crop in regions that require lower input from fertilisers and herbicides is bleak. New Zealand is a net exporter of fruit, and it is a key part of our economy. However, we also import significant volumes of frozen fruit and dried fruit from around the world in addition to fresh bananas, pineapples, and mangoes. As supply chains deal with the impact of tightening supply, as with the current squeeze on prunes, prices will inevitably rise for fruit wherever it is grown. A global environment where we need to compete for fruit against the likes of Wholefoods and Walmart in the US or Aldi, Tesco and Carrefour in Europe may not be far away, and it is not a battle were likely to win. At Nibblish, weve seen this first-hand and set ourselves up to have the smallest environmental impact possible. Solar power on all our sites and water recycling everywhere were the first steps we took. Weve also found ways to capture the methane from our waste fruit to use for power, and then the remaining fruit is used to fertilise our next crop. However, were fighting against the tide of temperature change. What can New Zealanders do to create change? For households, the change comes from us each doing our bit. As a consumer, that means choosing companies that make sustainability a key part of their business. Food waste makes up 7 per cent of all global emissions so compost your leftover food, get a worm farm or simply buy less! And recycle where you can. As a country we must do far better with our recycling efforts. Organisations such as The Packaging Forum that runs the Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme need to be supported at a government level. Kerbside composting should also be the norm in every city and town. Its woeful that the options for people to do the right thing are so poorly addressed by the state. Finally, if we are to meet our obligations under the Paris Accord then our farmers are going to need to make some material changes over the coming years. They are, quite literally, the backbone of our economy and are among the hardest working folk youll meet. We must support them through this change, so we not only meet the climate crisis head on but come out of it as an inclusive and supportive nation with a balanced economy that serves all New Zealanders. Because one thing is for certain a lack of action on climate change means there will be many more storms to weather in our future. Matthew Bennett is the founder of Nibblish, a family-run company that makes fruit snacks.