Hands Off our Food, Herbs and Natural Remedies
"Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food." Maybe not for long in NZ....
Did you know that the NZ Govt is seeking to regulate all natural products, including many common foods? Natural substances like Cinnamon, Coconut, Eggplant, Hibiscus, Neem could be regulated and banned! Anyone using, prescribing or selling banned natural ingredients could be fined?
I could be banned & fined for teaching foraging / selling my foraging guides / using plants in my skincare or mentioning any natural substances that might improve your health! This weeks posts about Dandelion & Kawakawa berries were the most popular posts I’ve ever written, and could be banned!
For thousands of years humans have safely & effectively used natural foods and herbal remedies to support their health and wellbeing. Rongoa Māori, Rakau Māori, Trafitional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda and Western herbal traditional medicine all use natural herbs, foods & supplements to support health & wellbeing and safely treat illness. These practices could be prohibited, banned & practitioners face hefty fines if this new bill is approved.
The Therapeutic Products Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament with the support of all parties (except the Maori Party, note that the Bill is a direct contravention to the Treaty of Waitangi and is a threat to Rongoa Māori).
The Bill will enable the government to facilitate biotechnology and gives a blank cheque to a regulator to tell the public what herbs and supplements we can use, in what quantity, as well as prohibiting natural herbs.
If passed we would need to visit our GP for a prescription for Vitamin C, natural supplements will increase dramatically in cost due to compliance costs, we will be banned from self treating with natural remedies, any natural substance with proven health benefits could be banned and regulated.
The Bill is a an attempt to restrict our use of natural remedies to heal ourselves and must be stopped!
If you think this Bill doesn’t affect you, did you know that 50% of kiwis use natural medicines or supplements & that 80% of modern drugs are derived from plant chemicals. This Bill will massively restrict our ability to access and use natural medicines, as well as dramatically increase coss.
We MUST stop this Bill from going through. PLEASE make a submission against this bill before 15th February!
Make a submission to oppose the Bill here:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/53SCHE_SCF_BILL_130084/therapeutic-products-bill
Write to your MP & to Chris Hipkins to reject the regulation of Natural Products in NZ.
For more info you can watch this short video that summarises some of the potential effects of the Bill:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEqEhjthTSU
You can sign this petition:
https://oursay.co.nz/index.php/2023/01/22/petition-hands-off-our-food-herbs-and-natural-products/
There will be a livestreamed interview tonight at 8pm discussing this Bill. You can register here to watch:
https://voicesforfreedom-co-nz.zoom.us/webinar/register/2216415968034/WN_fPyHL0K3S_C-UcnSuVAATg
You can find more info & links to submission templates here:
https://www.voicesforfreedom.co.nz/therapeutic-products-bill