Delicious organic apples in green and red gift boxes arrived at Parliament buildings today. A free lunch for MPs with a strong message from GE Free NZ Hawke’s Bay branch.

Spokesperson Kay Keates says that that 10% of pipfruit growers in Hawke’s Bay are now producing crops organically and over-all the organic industry here in Hawke’s Bay is worth 10 million dollars and still in its infancy. Growers cannot keep up with the demand she says, both locally and globally.

However , it is not just organic growers who need reassuring from the government . Many conventional growers hold fears that their crop could be contaminated should genetic engineered material be released into the environment. Mrs Keates says that consumer and grower resistance and an increasing awareness of health and safety mean that genetic engineering should not be introduced into New Zealand.

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