There's always a tension between ideals and reality and all too often it's farming and horticulture which get caught between the two.

Ideally we'd like our environment to be pristine, clean and green, free from sprays and with abundant native bush and wildlife.

Ideally we'd like farm animals to enjoy a blissful life frolicking in pastures green – forever.

The reality is an abundant native forest filled with birds, lizards and bats doesn't provide enough food for even a modest population of humans, as early Maori and European settlers discovered.

The reality is if we wish to eat meat, eggs, poultry and dairy products, animals have to die to satisfy our hunger.

The reality is if we want to add fruit and vegetables to our daily diet, land must be cultivated, orchards established, and sprays used to protect crops.

That doesn't mean the environment has to be trashed or animals treated cruelly.

Farmers by and large are concerned about the environment; and dairy farmers in particular are spending from tens of thousands to millions of dollars on individual farms to reduce the impacts of dairy shed effluent, improve animal health and productivity and reduce nutrient leaching into water ways.

Farmers are sensitive to public opinion and while the Fish and Game's ‘dirty dairying' campaign of a few years ago was seen by some as extreme, it did highlight concerns and programmes like Fonterra Clean Streams Accord has helped the industry improve its environmental performance.

The annual Ballance Farm Environment Awards showcase the increasing number of farmers who are operating financially and environmentally sustainable businesses.

Television footage of a calf in Chile beating bludgeoned to death caused a public outcry too, and partly as a result, the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee is seeking public consultation on its proposal that blunt force trauma may not be routinlely used for the killing of unwanted dairy calves on the farm. To read the proposal and make a submission, visit the MPI website: www.biosecurity.govt.nz/biosec/consult

Consumers concerned about the environment and animal welfare have a right to question how their food is grown, but they should also support responsible farmers and orchardists by making conscientious decisions about the food they buy – buying New Zealand-grown is great place to start.