In CALL we are developing some work on “food security”. We’re hoping to encourage and support locally grown food. This fits with at least two of the main themes of CALL’s activities: Local Food Production; Sustainable Living. Food Security is a genuine issue for us in Ireland.
In an article in The Irish Examiner (April 2024), Thia Hennessy (Professor of Agri-Food Business at Cork University Business School), analysed how and why food security is becoming a concern in Ireland. Although Ireland is a major exporter of food (which might lead us to think we could be self-sufficient), this country also currently imports 20% of its chicken, one of the main sources of meat, and 80% of its fruit and vegetables. Stats such as these mean that in Ireland we are vulnerable to “the volatility of global food markets”. Prof Hennessy identifies three key factors affecting our food security: the first two are inter-connected and relate to the global supply chains and their vulnerability to geo-political issues such as conflict; the third factor is climate change which is disrupting food supply due to more frequent extreme weather events. https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/spotlight/arid-41369674.html
Many of us use supermarkets these days. They’re so useful with their long opening hours, it saves time shopping for a whole range of items all under one roof, and its often a cheaper shop than going to the small local shops or local producers. But is this mode of sourcing our food sustainable in the longer term?
What can we do?
In CALL, alongside encouraging everyone to have a go at growing their own, we want to see if we can help local commercial growers such as Tommy Conroy who lives just outside Louisburgh. A group of us from CALL visited Tommy’s “garden” in the summer. I think we were all bowled over by the amazing range of the fruit and veg Tommy is growing on the edge of a mountain near the Wild Atlantic way.
Tommy is quite a character, reckons that he doesn’t really know much about growing fruit and veg (yeah right), and he swears by his compost which he keeps in big piles, turned by a digger. It was actually quite hot inside the heaps when we visited on a cool wet July evening. A ferment of nutrition rotting down to become his growing medium.
Tommy has recently opened a stall in Louisburgh- on a Friday morning, in the spot near the fish van. He’s selling a range of fruit and veg at realistic prices, depending what’s in season. I caught up with him there last Friday. It was about 12.30 by the time I got into town, and he’d sold a lot of stuff already which is great. But I still came home with some lovely produce including a massive red cabbage so I’m going to try making some red Sauerkraut in the next few days when I get a minute
In another recent report from the Irish Times (May 2024), that survey conducted by University College Cork focuses the mind. Apparently, we consumers continue to resist paying more for food, the report tells us, but at the same time there is a general call for more sustainable production methods. https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2024/05/22/irish-consumers-want-more-sustainable-food-but-not-to-pay-for-it-ucc-survey-finds
“The report’s author, Prof Thia Hennessy, said: ‘The recent food price spike showed us that consumers and governments will resist food price increases and so food and beverage companies must continue to invest to deliver more environmentally sustainable and healthy products to the consumer at ever-more affordable prices.’ “, reports Eoin Burke-Kennedy, Economics correspondent for The Irish Times.
In CALL, we’re hoping to work with some third level education students to look at Tommy’s model for growing- maybe measure the inputs versus the outputs. Let’s see if we can understand more about what is viable in terms of productivity and prices and at the same time, help educate the next generation of food producers, politicians, climate activists… watch this space for news about our progress.