New Zealand China Friendship Society
April Newsletter 2015
Next Meeting and AGM Friday 8th May
At 7pm in the new ETC premises 1st Floor, 140 The Square, Palmerston North (the old BNZ building)
Food Safety in China/NZ: What are the real issues?
Speaker: Maurice Alley
Recently the world has seen a greatly increased demand for protein containing goods, such as meat and milk, from Asian countries due to the growth of their middle class populations and the accompanying changes in food consumption patterns. On the other hand Asian immigration to New Zealand has increased the local demand for specialty vegetable, fruit and spice products imported from Asia. With all this increased trade comes the risk of increased food safety issues. What are the real dangers to human health and how can they be addressed?
Maurice is a retired veterinary pathologist from Massey University who has worked in the area of food borne diseases. He has published research on a number of bacteria diseases affecting domestic animals, humans and wildlife in New Zealand.
Our Last Meeting
The Chinese New Year of the sheep and /or goat was celebrated with an excellent pot luck dinner at Anne Henderson’s house. It turned out to be a very pleasant summer evening and a variety of Chinese and kiwi dishes were consumed. Fortunately no sheep or goats attended the celebration but this did not matter as there were no sheep or goat meat dishes were on the menu. 
Flying the Flag at Moeawatea 
The new flag pole erected outside the Rewi Alley whare in the Moeawatea valley, South Taranaki flying both the New Zealand and Chinese flags . It was donated and erected by Mike Eagle from Auckland.
Easter Maintenance of Rewi Alley’s Whare
A team of six people met in the Moeawatea valley, South Taranaki over the Easter break to complete much needed maintenance of Rewi Alley’s historic cottage. The Moeawatea valley was once a community of 10-12 farming families which included a school and post office agency. Nowadays the only occupants are cattle together with wild pigs, deer and goats. The current economics of farming in this remote valley are such that the only remaining profitable activity is the harvesting and production of manuka honey. This is being undertaken by Henry Mathew’s company Settler’s Honey which is based in the adjacent Waitotara valley.
Some of the projects recently undertaken on the historic building have included the removal and replacement of rustic weather boards, repainting the roof, rebuilding of the kitchen chimney to exclude possums, the construction of rat proof kitchen cupboards and the construction of a weatherproof access between the whare and some of its out buildings.
NZCFS National Conference May 22-24
It is not too late to register for this years National Conference which will be held in Nelson.
Highlights of Saturday’s programme focus on 有办法 You banfa! There is a way! They will include:
- Presentations by branch youth about their exciting initiatives.
- Extended lunchtime expo with demonstrations by Chinese art and craft experts.
- Music, kites, magic show, tea-tasting. Try brush painting, tai chi, calligraphy, paper cutting.
- Success stories from around the country. ‘Ways’ goals were achieved in the last year.
- Planning for future projects. ‘Ways’ to get and use funding.
For more information visit;
https://nzchinasociety.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/2015-Conference.pdf
Maurice Alley
