Group calls on Taoiseach to add food-growing to school curriculum

SELF-SUFFICIENCY organisation Grow it Yourself (GIY) has called upon Taoiseach Enda Kenny to add food-growing to school curriculums.

Furthermore, unused land should be available for community gardens and allotments, GIY told the Taoiseach, when he recently presented the organisation with a 2011 Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Award.

In accepting the award, GIY founder Michael Kelly recalled being in a supermarket five years previously and discovering that the garlic he was about to buy was imported from China. Spurred on by his “garlic incident” to grow his own food, he set up GIY to inspire others to do likewise.

Mr Kelly said: “In Ireland we produce enough food each year to feed 34 million people and yet we still import €5 billion worth of food each year. It just doesn’t make any sense, and it has a direct impact on people’s health, communities, Irish jobs and the environment.

“The beauty of it is that we don’t have to get everyone to grow all their own food. Once we can get people to grow anything, say some salad leaves on a balcony, then their whole relationship with food starts to change.

“When they do go to the supermarket, they buy more local and seasonal food which is good for their health, community, jobs and the environment,” he said.

Mr Kelly worked for 10 years in the IT industry in Dublin but now lives the good life in Dunmore East, Co Waterford, with his wife and their ever-expanding coterie of farm animals. He also writes columns for The Evening Echo and Food & Wine Magazine. GIY has more than 12,000 members all over the country.

Mr Kelly added: “More and more research shows that growing your own food is fantastic for your physical, mental and emotional health.”

Two other Social Entrepreneurs Ireland awards were also presented — one in the area of education and literacy, and another to encourage greater participation of women in politics.

Each organisation will receive €200,000 in funding and professional supports to help them develop their projects.

Since launching in 2005, Social Entrepreneurs Ireland has supported 150 social entrepreneurs, directly investing over €4 million into supporting these exceptional individuals.

These in turn have directly helped over 100,000 people and indirectly helped another 400,000 people.

Guest of honour at the awards, Tom Suddes of the Suddes Group, said social entrepreneurs are critical to developing the new thinking that is going to be required to address some of the entrenched social and environmental issues facing Ireland and the rest of the world today.

Mr Suddes said: “These awards are fundamental to driving a new agenda in Ireland, whereby social entrepreneurs can enact real change in society.”