President McAleese launches first growing your own food conference

THE days of the vegetable garden and the allotment are back as new times give birth to a new spirit beyond anger, indignation and disappointment, President Mary McAleese noted when she opened the first national conference in Dublin of GIY – Grow it Yourself.

She said part of that new spirit is captured in the GIY movement and in the need to connect with values and ways of living which are sustainable, life-enhancing, family and community oriented.

At the simplest level, GIY is about growing your own food. Until relatively recently it was what everyone did, even in cities.