Tuesday, November 02, 2021



Have they considered not polluting?

DairyNZ has released a survey of farmers, and apparently calling them on their pollution is bad for their mental health:

More than half of those surveyed said they or someone on their farm had experienced a mental health issue in the last year.

The most mentioned reasons were government regulations, perception of dairying within the public and media and financial concerns. Labour shortages on-farm were another issue raised by farmers, with 62 percent saying that being short staffed was causing increased stress.

Obviously, we're meant to feel sorry for them and stop demanding that they stop destroying the planet so they can lead comfy lives. But I'm going to turn that around. After all, their two biggest "mental health issues" are caused by people's absolutely legitimate response to their dirty, polluting behaviour. So how about they stop that behaviour, accept regulation, cut herd sizes, and clean up their act? Doesn't that seem likely to improve public perception and so their mental health? And if its causing so much stress, doesn't refusing to change seem dysfunctional, an ongoing act of self-harm?

Honestly, its like bigots complaining about being called on their bigotry. And just like bigots, it seems that farmers, as represented by their industry groups, would rather play the victim than change.