Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We have movement in the genetically modified food sector space.
Government's given the green light to new rules and definitions
food producer using new breeding techniques including gene editing, but
without foreign toy. You know, won't need a genetically modified
label in the supermarket. Andrew Hugot as the Minister of
Food and Is well, it's Andrew, very good morning to you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good morning Mike.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Now this lines up with Australia right, Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
This is part of the cisen's work Food Safety Australia
New Zealand and there was a proposal to change the
labeling requirements to ensure that the labeling requirements were in
line with the Australian legislation and the center being New
Zealand legislation.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Are we happy with that or of because we want
to be in sync so we don't have a whole
lot of you know, misunderstanding going on. Are we happy
with what they've got and what they've given us and
what we've agreed to or would we could we have
done something completely different?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
No, No, I'm pretty comfortable with this that the lines
up with where we're going in terms of legislation. That
makes you know, it's simple to understand thing for producers
of food. You know, if there's no novel DNA in
this food, then you don't have to put a genetically
modified label on it and save some costs. So, you know,
(01:12):
as far as I'm concerned, it's pretty straightforward and sensible.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
How controversial's ge these days? Has it settled down or not?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Look, there's still a lot of concern from some people,
and you know it's you know, get the odd quite
a few letters coming through of people who are really
opposed to it, and letters.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
From the same people over and over again with scrrelly handwriting.
Or are they different?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
There's a theory that are written in capitals in bold
but genderly. You know, there's a fair that are different.
But I guess I'd just say to these people, we're
not taking away your choice. If you don't want to
consume this stuff, if you don't want to partake, then
there will be options out there for you. You know, I
do get a lot of other letters from people wanting
(01:57):
all sorts of stuff put on labels for everything, And
the end of the day, you know, we just only
have the minimum beer on the labels in terms of
what you need for real safety information because putting all
this other stuff on just adds to cost and asparason
or where everyone's worried about the cost of food, is.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
There anything actually out there at the moment? If only
to the supermarket this morning, can I find something genetically
engineered or not not?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
In in terms of gene editing, there's probably very few
products that are on the market. I know, you know
there are genetically modified really no niche ingredients that may
go into various foods. But the way it is because
they're only a tiny little component, the whole product doesn't
(02:45):
need to be labeled genetically modified. So there's probably a
little bit out there, but not a hell of a lot.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
So there's more for the future. Hey, have you been
following this aggra zero thing and these methane pills that
cow are going to be taking?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Haven't caught up with the methane as one ire that
appears the bowlus. Yes, I'm aware of the bowlers.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, you know Bowluss's pills. I'm trying to go to
an urban market. But what I'm what I'm saying is
so you give these cows the bowlers and suddenly there
are methane is reduced by they claim seventy percent. I
mean that's a game changer, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yes, it is. What I would say though, is what
everyone probably doesn't realize, apart from those of us that
have put a ballus down a cow's throat. You do
have to push the animal into the headlock, close the headlock,
then wrestle with the animal eight minutes, mouth up, putting
the plunger down its throat. So that's fine, I would
(03:40):
prefer it'll be. Yes, it's potentially useful. It wouldn't be
a job I would be looking forward to doing with
five hundred odd cows. But you can be other technologies.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
If you can reduce methane by seventy percent, where this
is where we want to be heading, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Oh, Look there's other I think there's this and other
technologies that you know will have the potential to remove
all this worrying and angst thing about me saying and
just let farmers carry on with farming. Yeah, I'd probably
be there's other technologies that I think would fit better
into my farm than that one in particular. But each
(04:20):
farm to each farmer to their own.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Good stuff, good insight. Andrew Hoggart, who's the Minister of Food.
You see the wrestling the cow thing, I wasn't fully
aware of. So and if you got five hundred six
is right, you want to wrestle five hundred cows. But anyway,
my point being AGRA zero, we could be the first
agricultural sector in the world to gain these particular tools.
Ruminant buyer tech is developing these slow release boulders, right,
(04:42):
and you feed to the livestock. And so this is government.
It's got a government backing because AG zero a bunch
of investments, money invested, and now they've got something that
they think might be a game chudger.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
So you've got to wrestle the car cow and then
put a plunger down.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, you grab the cow by the neck and and
you open it. I should know this, I'm from the
way exactly. And you open its mouth and then you
ram the bowlers down its throat and the cow is
the guest being, the guest being as Andrew, the guest
being that the cow's not overly keen on you doing that.
And if you do that five hundred times, that's a
good day's work, isn't it. And you deserve more than
(05:17):
ninety three thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
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