Seasonal eating is beneficial in a whole variety of ways. You are eating the food people in the region you live in have eaten for many thousands of years. In fact, you can trace seasonal eating back to a time well before the invention of agriculture in the valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates in Mesopotamia10,000 years ago.

Seasonal eating goes  back back back through the ages (including bronze age, stone age etc), back to hunter gatherers, back to the animals that were becoming humans, back back back beyond the neolithic, through various versions of primates to those yummy red Apples, proffered by naked women to willing, equally naked men in perfect jungles before time began.

Yep, we’re used to seasonal eating. Our bodies love fresh,organic food and react to it accordingly. Food miles are lessened radically. And the local food production environment is enhanced. Every 10 euro spend locally is worth 24 to the local economy, according to our minister for food, Trevor Sargent.

In fact, TS himself actually issues seasonal vegetable press releases, telling consumer citizens of this fair land about seasonal spuds and sweedes – now that’s progress!

If you want a handy guide to seasonal fruit and veg, there are a couple of places to find it. One is below, from a Bord Bia national organic week handout from 2008. Right now we are entering blissful summer seasonal eating, with new season spuds arriving right now…enjoy!

It has been claimed in many places that these new economic times will slaughter the small, the cute and the eco friendly places to shop. The thinking is that no one will be able to do anything other than go the ALDI and buy the cheapest of the cheap.
While there is  a marked increase in the availability of organic food in outlets traditionally aimed at the lower income consumer, it is also the case that the small, the cute, colourful and the eco friendly have a bright future too.

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It can often be hard to find objective information on children, health and food. Much of the info is either UK-based and thus relatively useful but not specific to Ireland, or its fairly generic nutrition info from organisations like INDI. What’s a parent with young kids to do?
Guess what? There is a small organisation who have a similar ethos to the UK’s Food Commission, but who are based in County Clare. They have a slightly strange name – Red Branch – but have a great, fearless food ethos.

Check out their resources, tips etc. When there recently, I discovered that Irish children consume the greatest amount of of so called soft drinks in the EU – 63% consume at least one a day.

Red Branch will come into your child’s school and help out with various healthy food initiatives, including initiating school fruit breaks.

In our previous post, a general overview of meat and the environment in the Irish situation was presented. Here’s more details on what the options out there are.

The relative okness (if I can use that word) of Irish meat was suggested, but with caveats. Are there better options?

Yes there are. Irish organic beef and lamb is one. At a recent conference, Dan Clavan of Teagasc compared organic and conventional farming. He found that of the 15 environmental indicators he examined, organic scored better in all except three. And even for these three, the results were mixed rather than against organic.

In particular, by not using synthetic fertilizers, organic avoids copious use of fossil fuels, which are used in making and then transporting fertilizers around.
For committed carnivores, there is a perhaps unexpected place where Irish organic beef and lamb are affordable and eco – your local farmers’ market. While not all farmers’ market foods are cheap, Irish organic beef and lamb can be extremely good value in this setting.
For example, organic Irish mince at farmers’ markets tends to be about 11-12.50 per kilo. And if you are really trying to reach a point of enviro-purity, try Joe Condon’s beef or lamb (see picture) . You can order on line or drop down to Dungarvan farmers’ market. Joe’s Galloway cattle, which range over the Knockmealdowns, eat an almost exclusively grass fed diet. While doing this, they also improve the biodiversity levels of their grazing area due to sustainable stocking levels, suitable breed and organic practices.
Joe’s burgers are actually the most affordable item on the menu at the highly regarded Bridgestone guide listed Bodega restaurant in Waterford, while regularly receiving rave reviews about how they combine price and quality – true value.
There are many Joe-like characters at the 120 or so farmers’ markets all over Ireland. And if you have the space or friends with big freezers to order organic meat in bulk, try the Colchester’s Drumeen farm in Kilkenny (056 88 31411). Their mixed beef box is just 9e per kilo.
These sorts of prices even challenge the more obvious option of LIDI, which, amongst all the imports, does actually stock certified organic Irish organic minced beef at a great price.

Interested in how eco your favourite celebrities’ diets are?
Spring.com has just released a grading system for their top chosen organic celebrities. Madonna, Stella, Angelina, Ed Norton even the Rolling Stones all get rated.

So who gets the triple grade, and who gets bottom of the class?

have a look

And for an irreverent view of all things foodie and fame-related, Ecorazzi are always good for a quirky tale or two.

For example, did you know that there is  a roof top garden on the White House, thanks to Hillary Clinton’s time as first Lady?

Can we grow our own food Barack? Yes we can!

There are many stories out there about meat and the environment.

Much of it is well meaning, but hastily cut and pasted from various US websites. The situation in places like the US, South America etc is sooo different as regards meat production, that I felt it was realy worth putting up a discussion piece on meat, Ireland and the environment.
In truth, the situation is more complex than it might otherwise seem.

(Please note that this article will not consider the issue of animal ethics, except of course for the fact that there is an ethics to protecting and blossoming the environment. Likewise, human health considerations are out.)

′Give up meat for one day (per week) initially, and decrease it from there′. So says Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the IPCC, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

That′s a worry for Ireland, as Ireland produces just under 600,000 tonnes of beef annually, 90% of which is exported.

Agriculture accounted for 26.8% of Ireland′s GHG emissions in 2007. While the overall amount produced has increased, this is an overall percentage reduction from a high of 35% in 1990.

Meat production uses up a lot of fossil fuels. Pork and chicken meat are very questionable in environmental terms, due to the cost of heating the houses they are kept in, as well as the fossil fuels used in producing and transporting their feed.

While the environmental costs of feeds and fertilizers is also high for outdoor animals such as beef and lamb, Ireland differs somewhat.

Simply put – we suit beef and lamb production. We have great grass growing weather – rain. We could, quite simply, supply the EU, whilst gettting from the EU a lot of the other stuff – e.g. fruits that aren’t berries or apples.

The vast majority of beef and lamb eaten in Ireland is Irish. This meat is mostly though not exclusively grass-fed.

According to our own Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF) ′Irish beef and lamb are produced without deforestation′: Also, if Ireland produced less meat there would be ′more production elsewhere and a net increase in emissions globally′. This would be due to deforestation and the less sustainable cattle farming practices which would follow, according to DAFF.

Critics argue that we′ve already had the deforestation and that we still do use significant amounts of fertilizers and feeds.

So outdoor meat such as beef and lamb is OK, but is there a better option?

How much is too much?

I’ll let you know my thoughts in in my next posting on this topic!

Its good to see that even in tough times, some are thinking of others – like the organic movement encouraging people to buy local, food even if it is conventional.

IOFGA calls on people to support local farmers and food producers to help support the local economy

The Irish Organic Farmers & Growers Association (IOFGA) is urging its members and communities across the country to support local farmers and food producers in their areas in response to the current economic difficulties. This is something practical that we can all do to make a
small positive difference to our local economy.

Kate Carmody Chairperson of IOFGA stated, ‘IOFGA is calling on our own
members and communities across the country to make a point of adding somelocal produce to their weekly shopping. Buying some local food produced byour neighbours represents a small practical step that we can all take asindividuals to help support our local economy in these difficult times.
Many people feel powerless in the face of the torrent of bad news about
the economy and it is very important for our morale to know that we can
each make a difference as individuals.

‘We are urging people to buy some local food from organic farmers if possible but in any case from theirlocal area. Now more than ever, we also need to support local farmers markets, box schemes, local bakeries and local artisan food producers.
‘There are economic, social and environmental benefits to supporting local
food enterprises and developing a local food economy which will prove more
sustainable and resilient in the future.′

Note of IOFGA: They are the largest organic certification organisation in Ireland representing approx 1,000 farmers, growers and processors.

Eco foodies have many Mecca’s:

There’s Ballymaloe House, the Organic Centre, Brooklodge, the Irish Seed Savers and many other stalwarts.

A relative newcomer is Castlefarm near Athy in Kildare.

At Castlefarm, Jenny and Peter Young have lots going on on their 170 acre organic dairy farm.

According to Jenny Young “As farmers and organic food producers we are delighted to be able to show people wheretheir food comes from.

“At Castlefarm we produce organic milk, eggs and vegetables and we also make our own organic cheese and seasonal preserves. The tour will include meeting some of the Castlefarm animals and learning more about the Castlefarm garden and organic farming system”.
The couple are also pioneering organic allotments, which will surely prove popular with people are economic realities (pardon the pun!) bite “so far 26 eager gardeners have signed up for the Castlefarm allotment and organic gardening courses, which are the first of their kind in the country”.

The couple are inviting people over to their holding soon – Sunday 8th of February at 2pm.
Its great for such a large and interesting organic dairy farm to be so close to Dublin, so I’d highly recommend a visit for anyone looking for something fun and food-related to do on the 8th Feb.

For more, see here: click!

If ever there was a time to try raw food, then early January has to be the time folks! Maybe you got a juicer for christmas, or maybe you’ve been eyeing one in the sales. But now is the time.

Juicing is a quick, easy, supertasty, uber-fresh way to get the best possible vitamin hit into you. (more…)

Irish meat is in the news at the moment, and for all the wrong reasons. However, if you are a committed carnivore, then maybe now is the time to consider the organic option.

Most meat in Ireland comes from animals who eat a concentrated feed. For pork and poultry, this is all year round, for cattle and some sheep this mostly for the winter.

This inevitably increases the carbon footprint of meat  – growing the ingredients, making up the concentrated feed pellets and transporting them. It changes the nutritional make up of the meat in a negative way – grass fed animals produce healthier meat. It also occasionally leads to problems the like of which we’re experiencing right now with contamination.

Now for the good news!

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