Letter to the Editor

 

Dairy free stance doesn’t sit well
“I realised my little skate park coffee spot was supporting the dairy industry and to be honest, it didn’t sit well,” says Cool Beans Cafe owner Morgan Redfern-Hardisty in big bold red typeface on the front page of the Mangawhai Focus (August 20).

As a result of his concern for animal and environment, Morgan’s little coffee spot has gone vegan. Cow’s milk with your coffee is no longer an option.

“I know what I’m doing is for the right reasons and will continue to move in that direction with all my heart and soul,” he says.

Why then, given his concerns, does he continue with a coffee business when coffee production is extremely harmful to the planet?

Coffee has become the second most tradable commodity on the planet and millions of acres of land in developing countries have been cleared to make way for enormous coffee plantations. Impact on animal environment is huge. Loss of habitat is just the beginning.

What does massive deforestation and intense coffee production mean to those environments? Disastrous effects on plant life, wildlife and ecosystem. Change in atmospheric dynamics. Soil erosion. Waterways are contaminated with waste production and agrochemical runoff.

What does it mean to the people nearby? Exploitation of poor coffee farmers. Child labour. Exposure to dangerous chemicals. Unsafe water.
Disease.

In Nicaragua five years ago thousands of families had no drinking water for weeks because the pipelines had to be cleaned of severely polluted wastewater from the coffee mills upstream. 

Kiwis are huge consumers of coffee. Just because we cannot see what is taking place somewhere else does not mean it is not happening. Those among us who condemn dairy industry practices should be equally troubled by what goes into a simple cup of coffee – because it’s really not that simple.

It is true. The New Zealand dairy industry could do better. I believe most farmers are trying to do just that. They too care about the world their children live in. But it is time to stop the blame game. Cows are not responsible when Auckland beaches are deemed unsafe for swimming. The dairy industry is not responsible for the whole heap of rubbish – including discarded coffee containers and plastic lids – that we see every day on the side of road. Or the toilet paper and poo littering our national park walking tracks. Or the plastic bags and discarded water bottles in the ocean. New Zealand is not clean and green and we are all at fault.

I commend Morgan for his new plant-based menu. Like most people I know, I too am concerned about the environment, healthy diet and animal welfare. But I take issue with his deeply critical comment on the New Zealand dairy industry on which this beautiful but small country is heavily reliant. 

And I would ask that if he feels so strongly – with all his heart and soul – about sowing the seeds of change, that the sale of coffee be next on his chopping block. Otherwise, to be honest, none of what he says sits well.

Danielle Murray
Northland