Eat at home, grow at home
He said Green councillors and candidates have been getting hundreds of enquiries about allotments and community gardens, and the Green Party campaign is designed to encourage domestic food production.
Farmers have the opportunity to get involved, because some privately-owned land may be rented at low cost, and turned into allotments for the hoped-for new army of gardeners — if not enough public land is available.
Farmers should be glad to co-operate — if only because the urban-rural gap would disappear, if enough town and city dwellers came to appreciate the difficulties of farming.
Ever optimistic, the Green Party has high hopes of the initiative, coining the motto that “more home-grown food is one recipe that can take Ireland forward”. And Mr Sargent suggests that more people are now living in apartments and other urban accommodation, and may feel like they have lost touch with nature. Getting flat dwellers interested in gardening can help them to reconnect with the world around them, he says.
No doubt, he will hope that their new world view will include a rosier picture of the Government in which he is a minister, and which presided over the sky-high property price inflation which has forced many into apartments.
Nevertheless, it is a commendable initiative.
It may be the only way to reduce the e891m (2007) import bill for fruit and vegetables — representing 74% of the estimated Irish retail market for fresh produce, including fruit, salad, vegetables and potatoes.
Farmers producing vegetables and potatoes are being squeezed out by declining profits, with the vegetable producer population falling 22% between 1999 and 2002, and potato growers declining 16% between 2000 and 2003.
With vegetable seeds and fruit tree saplings costing only a few cents, home growers can save at the supermarket tills and cut import bills.
By harvesting their own, they have the freshest food available, replacing food imports from around the world, and cutting down on air miles and carbon emissions, as well as outflows of money from our country.
The new getgrowing.ie website aims to give growers the resources and know-how they need. Even window boxes are perfect for growing herbs or small vegetables, while large tubs can be placed on patios, at the back door, or can be moved around the garden to catch the sun.
Growing food and vegetables in allotments, community gardens, window boxes and back gardens gets people out and about, and can improve public health.
Green representatives will be writing to city and county managers to request that land be made available for allotments or community gardens, where enough demand exists.
Allotments are particularly suited to apartment dwellers or other tenants without gardens. Some local authorities already provide allotments.
Others — like Cork City Council and Kilkenny County Council — are in the process of setting them up. In Kilkenny, allotments on private land can be rented for e175 a year.
Community gardens can be provided at hospitals, community centres, and small parks. Many schools operate gardens, run with the help of teachers and parents.
Farming is tough work, but growers can take inspiration from US First Lady Michelle Obama, who is going to turn part of the South Lawn at the White House into an organic vegetable garden to provide food for her family.
