Te Radar
Home » Magazine » Good, issue 13 » Te RadarCrazy ginger hair and a zany sense of humour has helped make Te Radar one of New Zealand’s most lovable local celebrities. Over a cup of fair trade coffee, the self-styled opinionist tells Good about home kill meat, clubs of righteousness and why he feels optimistic about our country’s future
My Green Journey
I’m a professional opinionist —but I’m not about to go into politics. I’ve been around politicians all my life and I don’t reckon you get to change the world. You can’t beat people over the head with the club of righteousness, but you can open the door and let people through. Am I sounding like an Old Testament prophet?
I don’t want to be pompous, or harangue people. No one wants to be lectured to, but if you can show them something simple, practical and positive it draws them in. Change happens when people get inspired. Take eco lightbulbs. I’ve seen a hand generator you can connect to a lightbulb. First you crank it to light up an eco bulb, then you crank it for a standard bulb. It takes way more effort to get the old-style bulb going. As soon as people see it they go, ‘Okay, I get it now’ and they make the change.
It’s about doing what you can. Perhaps you can’t afford to shop at farmers markets every week. What about once a month? Take the family, make an outing of it. It’s cheaper than going to the movies.
Aspirational TV is in at the moment —it’s all beautiful homes, gardening and cooking shows. Now everyone’s watching cooking shows and no one’s buying the actual ingredients to cook meals themselves. Everyone on those shows is really great at what they do. But it never turns out that way in real life. I mean, I’ve got celery in my garden that’s been in for months and it’s only grown a couple of centimetres. It’s like my dirty little secret. I plant stuff and go away for a while with work and when I come back half of it has died. My attitude is ‘Have a go’. You may not have the skills or the know-how, but try it anyway. I’m the kind of person who learns lessons from what’s gone wrong rather than what’s gone right. My latest show Eating the Dog is about celebrating people who’ve tried to do something and failed.
My attitude is ‘Have a go’. You may not have the skills or the know-how, but try it anyway. I’m the kind of person who learns lessons from what’s gone wrong rather than what’s gone right
Growing a garden is one of the most radical things you can do. Or learn to cook. I’m a big fan of old-fashioned cooking classes in schools. I think Jamie Oliver’s Pass It On campaign is absolutely brilliant. What he’s doing over in America is just amazing—you’ve got families there who don’t even eat the same food, let alone eat together. They each just take their individual, readymade meal out of the freezer and throw it in the microwave.
As much as I can, I buy fair trade coffee and I choose free-range pork and chicken. For one thing that kind of meat tastes a lot better. And the animals have hopefully had a better life. If nothing else it sends a consumer message. I realise it’s really difficult when you’re trying to feed a family on a tight budget. But how can we demand farmers change what they are doing if we don’t change our own habits?
I’m no zealot though, I love takeaways. I’ve even done a voiceover for McDonalds, about their purchase of New Zealand products. My dad used to sell his bulls to McDonalds. I’m really in favour of companies supporting local suppliers. I don’t think it’s necessarily McDonald’s fault that our country has a growing problem with obesity. You have to make good choices and take responsibility for yourself and your family.
I take a great pleasure in eating home kill. I wouldn’t say I enjoy killing animals—but I don’t have any trouble doing it. I can name an animal and love it—like my little roosters Brian and Peter—but know that one day I will kill it and eat it. I was really keen to breed some rabbits that I could eat for the show. But my producer thought there was enough killing already.
Through my work I’ve met some awesome people doing amazing things. We’re a wealthy country in many ways, rich in natural resources. Maybe I’m a bit Pollyanna-ish, but I sense a vibrant sense of optimism out there. No one is bombing us and there’s no guerrilla insurgency. People forget that.
Te Radar’s show Radar’s Patch recently screened on TVOne. His history show Eating The Dog is at Downstage Theatre, Auckland from June 29 to July 10, and pops up around the country for the rest of 2010.
Interview by Sarah Heeringa
