Farmer lobby groups defend teaching resource on climate change
A teaching resource on climate change produced by meat and dairy interests is being criticised as targetting schools with a one-sided view on farm emissions. The information focuses on the important role of New Zealand dairy and red meat in feeding a growing global population. Co-authored by Beef and Lamb New Zealand, DairyNZ and Federated Farmers, it explores the complex relationship between environmental, economic, nutritional, social and global food security outcomes in New Zealands food system. The booklet is aimed at secondary school students, and is described as providing balanced information. READ MORE: * Environmental sustainability students not sure on compulsory climate change * What readers think of the new climate change educational resource * Federated Farmers South Canterbury president says teaching resource needs to be accurate Kerry Allen, of the Horticulture and Agriculture Teachers Association, welcomed the resource, stating in a Federated Farmers press release last week that it removed emotion from the climate change discussion. This provides a good viewpoint and a scientific basis for agricultural and horticultural science students to develop their own viewpoints in our subject, she told Stuff this week. However, others cautioned schools to use it critically. One teacher took to Twitter to say that she would totally use" the material but as a way of teaching bias. Another Twitter user, writer Giovanni Tiso was concerned that teachers in farming-reliant communities would take the resource at face value. If you see that your school is using this resource, I would strongly encourage you to ask some tough questions to the board, he tweeted. Im sure it contains some information that is scientifically accurate, he said later. But it is explicitly something that is written in support of a particular political viewpoint, rather than a particular scientific viewpoint. However, Maria Perreau, of the Aotearoa Social Studies Educators Network, said such resources were potentially useful if taught in the right way. The booklet was upfront about its origins and could be used by senior students seeking different viewpoints for their inquiry projects. Thats what we do. We teach young people to be really critical in the way they are consuming information. Corporate-backed resources were a growing trend but Perreau said this was only a problem when groups were less transparent or when teachers were unquestioning. Darren Powell, a researcher into schools outsourcing curriculum to corporates or charities, agreed it was not unusual for schools, particularly primary schools, to receive materials with strong links to industry or lobby groups. It was a form of public relations, and schools are a particularly good place for the industry to do this sort of work and create a better public image. In the case of the Beef+Lamb/DairyNZ resource, the document seems to be trying to change the framing of the issue and saying this is not just about the environment, it's about global nutrition. Its trying to change childrens or young peoples perception of what the issue is. The resource also did not use the word rivers once, referring to waterways instead. With students, I would be saying how balanced is this? What perspective are they taking? What aren't they saying? Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard said the resource was a response to other materials in the classroom which blamed farming in large part for the countrys greenhouse gas emissions. He said students should also know that New Zealands food producing abilities would become increasingly important as climate change took its toll. If the ministry isnt going to try and [balance] some of that stuff, then as an industry, we want to make sure the true story's out there. It isnt trying to say that agricultural doesnt contribute, it does, but its certainly not half of all warming is caused by animal agriculture. But freshwater advocate Marnie Prickett said aside from the problematic element of a lobby group providing information to children, some of the resources statements were demonstrably untrue. The document claimed New Zealand farms were reducing their environmental footprint since the 1990s. Like most sectors, agriculture's emissions had increased since 1990, along with the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, which had increased by more than 600 per cent. Conflating the sheep and beef industry with dairy was a way to reduce the appearance of harm overall, Prickett said. By intentionally mixing the impacts of two different sectors, the document obscures the severe impacts on the environment from the intensive dairy industry. Beef + Lamb were doing their farmers a disservice, she said, as these industries had not had the same boomand impact over the last two decades as dairy had. The assertion that most dairy exports were produced on pasture-based farm systems was also misleading, in Pricketts view. New Zealand was the largest importer of palm kernel expeller (PKE) in the world, a food supplement for dairy cattle which does did irreparable damage to rainforests. Beef+Lamb said it helped create the document so young Kiwis could make informed decisions about eating red meat. We believe there is a lack of awareness and understanding in New Zealand about our more natural, low-impact farming methods, which are quite different to the intensive high-impact systems often used around the world particularly when it comes to beef and lamb, a spokeswoman, Rowena Hume, said. The Ministry of Education said it expected teachers to critically reflect on the suitability of any resources but defended a schools right to choose its own materials. Developing critical and creative thinkers is part of the vision for the New Zealand curriculum and part of this involves exploring contexts and ideas through a variety of perspectives, values and viewpoints, Ellen MacGregor-Reid, the ministry's deputy secretary of early learning and student achievement, said. However, the New Zealand curriculum was non-prescriptive so individual schools could respond to their community and student needs, she said. The industry groups said they hoped the ministry would turn the resource into material fit for purpose in classes.