We want a population where everyone knows and understands the importance of how climate change and food production interact. The connection between ecosystem services, our economy, and future food supply is not yet common knowledge and understood by the general public and our industries.

Basic ecological literacy such as understanding how landscapes function and knowing where our food comes from and how it is produced should be a central part of our foundational knowledge, in the same way we learn to read, write and apply mathematics. Food system literacy must be included in our schooling system. Through programmes in schools that encompass both in class learning and visits to local farms, children will grow up with a greater understanding and respect for where their food comes from. This education should include te ao Māori perspectives of farming and food production, alongside Western ways of understanding our food system.

Food system literacy will not only help to close the rural-urban divide but will also create healthier and more resilient communities as consumers will grow up understanding how their food is made, who makes it and how what they eat directly impacts their health and the planet.

What would this look like in reality?

● Increased education on food system literacy and sustainability across all school levels;

Primary and Intermediate school:

• Children are taught about food production, mahinga kai, food waste, food recycling, cooking food and why it is important. Projects such as Garden to Table17 are embedded at a national scale.

• Farming centred projects to embed food, fibre, and farming literacy into school curriculum such as writing a letter to a farmer, sponsoring a calf or lamb, and field trips to a farm.

High school:

• Agroecology and food system topics are a compulsory part of biology and social science courses in school curriculum.

• Promote the primary industries as career pathways for both urban and rural high school students.

Tertiary:

• All agriculture related degrees have compulsory engagement with farms.

● Greater collaboration and the creation of integrated policy between relevant government ministries such as health, environment, primary industries and education.

● Indigenous knowledge and heritage of Aotearoa should be valued as an important part of food system literacy in New Zealand. Acknowledging mana whenua and all of those who have come before us must become a part of our education programmes.

Alongside building general food system literacy in New Zealand, there needs to be an active effort to shift the narrative of the food and fibre industry. There is currently a rural urban divide in New Zealand. While there are debates over if this divide is real or perceived, there is no doubt that a lack of connection does exist. This lack of connection is a barrier to rewriting the narrative of farming to one of opportunity and climate action.

We want to see farmers nationally recognised and celebrated for their critical role in our economy. Equally, we want to see the urban public to be seen as allies and supporters for farmers as they transition to sustainable farming. Building relationships of respect and compassion between urban and rural populations will help build a new narrative for agriculture.

This new narrative will have to be built through multiple avenues. Increasing awareness can increase understanding across urban and rural groups. However, the media is another major influencer in determining these narratives of farming and climate change.

Currently many media narratives are based around scandals - they are guided by what stories make click bait headlines and receive the highest readership. This can act to alienate farmers and perpetuate negative reputations of the industry which disguises (and even further discourages) the positive actions that some actors in the industry are taking to be sustainable. It is important that negative aspects of the industry are made public as transparency is essential. However, positivestoriesmustbehighlightedtobalanceouttheoverallfarmingnarrativethatis shared with the public. Doing so can build better connections and foster this compassion and respect between urban and rural populations.

What would this look like in reality?

● Media campaigns are balanced: identify the issues in agriculture, but also highlight the current action and the opportunity of New Zealand farming/the opportunity for farmers to be heroes in regard to ecological crises and climate change.

● Retailers and buyers should be increasingly educated on the importance of climate change, farming & food systems.

Good education consists of both knowledge and the effective communication of that knowledge. It is critical that the wider New Zealand agricultural industry has access to existing and new knowledge that is being developed, resurfaced and applied to agriculture. But it is equally important that knowledge is communicated in a way which empowers people to change. Creating education pathways that enable agency and ownership of decision-making (whether it be on-farm management, product development, consumer choices etc.) are important to making long term sustainable change. Too often we hear farmers say there needs to be more research before they will adopt new tech and innovation. However, often the research has already been done, but it remains in academic circles and not in a format that farmers can digest. Even if good quality information is available, unless farmers can make sense of it, it will not be utilised. Research must be made easier for farmers to access and apply. This may mean exploring new and different forms of communication and information exchange channels.

Similarly, knowledge transfer between farmer circles is essential to cultivate and support. Knowledge doesn’t just come from academics it’s often best gained looking over the neighbours fence. Local sharing of knowledge should be encouraged where healthy and productive. Farmers already share a lot of experience and learnings through their personal networks and supporting them to continue to do this enables them to have autonomy over their learning and uptake of new practices. Farmers require quality education and information to make good decisions but they also deserve to be empowered to successfully adapt. This will ultimately help in the fight against climate change as although science can provide solutions, farmers will be the ones to actually implement changes within farming systems. Agricultural extension agents and science communicators who are paid employees of Crown Research Institutions should be used to distil scientific findings through outreach activities and on a one stop platform for farmers run by He Waka Eke Noa. This central platform will also convey indigenous knowledge where appropriate, and include information on carbon credits for farmers and potential new means of production and land use. We should simultaneously encourage a pathway from school for quality extension and connection services. Specific science extension roles should be developed at CRIs to ensure agents have sufficient time and resources to effectively engage with farmers.

To get knowledge of our cutting edge science to the people, we must champion New Zealand farming research in the media. This can be supported by a database to make agricultural citizen science more available. Farmers must be encouraged to share information readily with each other, particularly within local systems. This is to not only improve production at a local level but to ensure environmental protection is shared through a catchment group of species distribution. We must continue destigmatising academics and encouraging them to communicate in a clear and concise way. This local sharing of knowledge should be encouraged where healthy and productive. Science conferences are often very formal, we would like a culture where this information sharing is more available to farmers eg. Future Whenua summit. Some science on farming practice is possibly diluted through large companies (EG. fertiliser companies) and farm advisors, or changed based on commercial interests. This should be realised and knowledge sharing in an advisory setting should be non-biased.

What does this look like in reality?

● Supporting Farmer-led education groups, catchment groups and development of on-the ground knowledge to complement industry-led scientific research.

● Public, open source platforms are established to provide academic material in accessible and engaging formats. This may include creative communication methods such as comic book style communication, videos, and interactive webpages.

● Science communication methods are embedded into tertiary education programmes in recognition of the role the researchers can have in contributing to accessible and digestible transmission of their work.

● New Zealand farming research and industry groups should employ agricultural extension agents to communicate research in a digestible, and practical manner.

● Farmers, academics, industry and political players in the agriculture industry are well connected and collaboration and engagement between these parties is prioritised in decision-making so that the needs of farmers are supported.

The future success of the food and fibre sector rests on the ability to attract talented, passionate, and diverse individuals. Increasingly, this will have to come from urban populations who have become disconnected from landscapes. Currently there are no clear career narratives into the primary sector, and in particular, urban youth often don’t understand what agriculture is, let alone the myriad of opportunities beyond just farming in supply chain, marketing, agritech, food-science and beyond. This is a problem, as there is no success without succession.

To overcome talent and labour shortages it is critical to construct a sustainable pipeline of talent. Information and education about primary sector pathways must be embedded throughout schooling, including upskilling careers advisors. Those within the sector must also advocate and share stories about the incredible work New Zealand does to inspire the next generation. Notably, the sector must also change and diversify the nature of the roles to make it an attractive place to work and create opportunities for a more culturally and gender diverse workforce.

What would this look like in reality?

● Look for opportunities to bring job seekers, including beneficiaries, into high-quality agricultural careers.

● Information about the numerous and exciting opportunities in a career in agriculture is provided in urban and rural schools.

● Education through institutions such as Primary ITO is supported to ensure farmers are equipped to meet the challenges of their increasingly complex roles.

● The New Zealand agricultural narrative is rewritten to inspire young people from rural and urban backgrounds to join the sector.