Joe McNamee: It's time for the Irish state to take food security seriously
Joe McNamee: "Teagasc acknowledges we have to import 84% of our fruit and veg but believes EU growers will continue to feed us in this regard. (By the way, 24% of our fruit and veg comes from Britain."
In what might be an episode of Emmerdale Farm written by John Le Carré, the opening section of an alarming report from the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs assessing Britain’s food security is reputed to have been written by British Intelligence (MI5 and MI6).
The UK’s National Security Assessment on Global Ecosystems was to be released last autumn but Downing St sat on it until earlier this year. A swift perusal tells you why: it is a baldly damning warning that global biodiversity loss and the collapse of critical ecosystems could have a severe impact on Britain’s resilience, security and prosperity, especially food security. In other words, Britain’s own resources are currently insufficient to feed itself.
Though geopolitics (eg wars in Ukraine and Iran) are already having a profoundly negative impact on global food systems, the report primarily focusses on the potentially deadly impact to Britain of ecosystem collapse elsewhere on the planet.
Such collapse (eg devastation of rainforests and tropical coral reefs) would lead to traditional food exporting countries scrambling to feed themselves, no longer able to export to other countries, including Britain. This is ever before assessing how increasing patterns of extreme weather (flooding, drought) is playing havoc with Britain’s domestic agriculture.
Britain imports 47% of its vegetables, 84% of its fruit. Over 99% of its dairy, 99.5% of its poultry and 99.8% of its pork comes from the EU. Though the French call the English Les Rosbifs, Britain is a net beef importer, and relies heavily on imported animal fodder and fertiliser. To feed Britain would require drastic changes to their current food production system and huge price hikes for consumers.
Meanwhile, on this side of the water, where it has become something of a national sport in recent times to smirk with schadenfreude at Britain’s ongoing travails since Brexit, the state’s attitude to the nation’s food security is what my teens might call ‘chillaxed’.
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The Department of Agriculture and Teagasc, the think-tank-brains trust of Irish food production, have been producing their own five-year food production strategies since 2015. The current Food Vision 2030: A World Leader in Sustainable Food Systems, mentions food security 11 times. However, it never defines ‘food security’ or seriously addresses it in an Irish context. Instead, this and other Teagasc publications suggest ‘food security’ as it relates to Ireland is all about producing food for export, as if we were the Mother Theresa of industrialised agriculture, only in it to feed the hungry of the world out of the goodness of our hearts.
Any brief mention of Irish food security concludes that we have such vast numbers of cattle as to be able to feed ourselves near enough forever. Good news for those on the paleo diet but less so for those preferring a properly balanced diet including plenty of fresh fruit and veg. Teagasc acknowledges we have to import 84% of our fruit and veg but believes EU growers will continue to feed us in this regard. (By the way, 24% of our fruit and veg comes from Britain.)
The commercial behemoth that is Irish industrial agriculture is also one of the biggest culprits in the environmental destruction of our land, rivers, lakes and seas and a huge driver of climate emissions, and when it comes to the environment more generally, the ‘Green Island’ is one of the laggards of Europe.
If we can’t even mind our own backyard, what chance that we’ll be remotely bothered about what’s happening elsewhere in the world or, heaven forbid, that it might impact on us?
The Irish state has refused entirely up to now to engage in any meaningful conversations about our food security and resilience in the face of global challenges even though we’re almost as shaky in that regard as Britain, which right now looks like the adult in the room.
When you’re crossing the road, holding the adult’s hand, you’d like to imagine they carefully look both ways. Not only is the Irish state refusing to look but, worse again, continues to blithely act as if there is no danger at all in leading us across the road blindfolded. It’s time to start talking, maybe even bring in the ‘intelligence services’.
Now in its 19th year, Blas na hÉireann, the Irish Food Awards, are open for entries and calling on Irish producers from across the island to submit food and drinks products for consideration in what are often dubbed the Irish Food Oscars. With the number of food and drink categories in excess of 200, up from 170 last year when over 3,000 products were entered, the benefits of success at Blás are now firmly embedded in any smart food or drinks producer’s marketing strategy. Deadline for submissions is May 14, with finalists notified in mid-August, with the Blas na hÉireann awards presented on October 2.
- irishfoodawards.com
One of the fresh new stars of Irish seafood, fishmonger Sebastian Skillings, turns up again in yet another of his very popular pop-ups, with Sebastian Skillings X Sarah de Brún X Lucas by N The Club (April 15) in Dublin, featuring Irish seafood starring as small plate servings, accompanied by gorgeous Spanish wines from N The Club, and all dropped to a soundtrack of funk and soul.
- eventbrite.ie
While his performances for Munster and Ireland set many a heart racing over the years, Keith Earls is now relying on his own roasted coffee beans to do something similar, having turned to the Way of the Bean after his retirement from professional rugby. Roasting in Annacoty, Co Limerick, just around the corner from the Eleven14 (his two jersey numbers over the course of his career) cafe outlet, the range is currently short and sweet, featuring a crowd-pleasing house blend along with single origin specialty coffees. I am currently enjoying a Brazilian 100% arabica (€14.40), nutty, balanced, smooth with gentle red fruits and notes of hazelnut, working equally well as a filter coffee or an espresso.
- eleven14.ie
