Sustainable Christmas: Healthy gifts that won't cost the earth

Buying Irish gifts that are sustainable and nutritious can also be delicious and fun. Caroline Hennessy has ideas for festive presents that will have an impact long after the day itself

Fri, 09 Dec, 2022 - 02:00

Caroline Hennessy

Dreaming of a healthy and sustainable Christmas? As we become more aware of the environmental impacts of consumerism (not to mention the impact on our health from all that indulgence, especially those selection boxes!), many of us are becoming more aware of how and where we spend our hard-earned Christmas cash. We still want treats, but not at the expense of the planet.

Time to look local for more nutritious and sustainable options from small Irish producers. Christmas shouldn’t cost the earth, for you or the world around you.

Cass and Nick McCarthy with son Finn. Picture: Kirsty Lyons

Farm sustainably

Regenerative agriculture is a term we’re going to hear a lot more of in 2023 but you can get ahead of the trend by ordering Lúnasa Farm heritage-breed pork and grass-fed beef. A practice that focuses on rebuilding the health of the land and producing nutritious and sustainable food,regenerative farming is an important part of the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy to reach climate change targets. It’s something Australian-Irish couple Cass and Nick McCarthy have prioritised on Lúnasa Farm.

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB

Although delayed by the pandemic, the McCarthys and their young son Finn (now joined by baby Isla) moved from Byron Bay last December to establish their own farm outside Quin, Co Clare. They both have a background in food from Australia: former engineer Nick trained as a craft butcher, while Cass is a wholefoods cook and is currently studying for her bachelor’s degree in food science and nutrition.In the last 12 months they hit the ground running. They sell first-class meat direct to customers, and their stock-up-the-freezer mixed pork and beef taster box costs €85 + delivery.

lunasafarm.ie

Kenneth Keavey offers a comprehensive veg box delivery service at Green Earth Organics

Eat seasonally

For anyone who loves cooking seasonal vegetables, Galway-based farmer Kenneth Keavey offers a comprehensive veg box delivery service at Green Earth Organics. All the produce he sells is organic, much of it grown himself and some sourced from other Irish farmers. There is also a certain amount of no-airfreight imported organic fruit and vegetables so he can offer a year-round selection.

Delivery nationwide (by electric van, where possible) is €4.50 and their 100% Irish farm box (€28) includes mushrooms, potatoes, leeks, celeriac, and in-season-at-the-moment kale.

The company’s Instagram account (@greenearthorganics1) has plenty of ideas for making the most of their boxes, with tips on storage and healthy recipe inspiration; kale and apple salad, beetroot bourguignon and curried parsnip soup are all posts to save. You can buy gift vouchers or set up a recurring order and their Christmas Day Box (€43) with all the organic vegetables and herbs for a family can be ordered now for delivery on Christmas week.

www.greenearthorganics.ie

Why not send someone on a Riot Rye sourdough course

Bake generously

Give a man (or woman!) a loaf of bread and you feed them for a day. Send them on a Riot Rye sourdough course (€125 for a one-day course) and they’ll not only come home with an assortment of bread to be eaten straight away but with enough skills to turn their home kitchen into a mini-bakery.

The Bakehouse and Bread School in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, is run by Joe Fitzmaurice and Julie Lockett, with a focus on nutrition, sustainable production methods and access for all. They turn beginners into sourdough devotees and it’s a gift that will keep on giving to everyone in the house.

For Christmas, they’re offering a free banneton (the proving basket that makes you look like a pro) with every baking course place and baking course voucher purchased. Just want to learn to make sourdough at home? Riot Rye also offers free online tutorials aimed at empowering everyone to bake real bread, using basic, accessible kitchen kit such as a pyrex dish and a kilner jar.

www.riotrye.ie

Have a fabulous meal and reduce food waste using responsibly sourced spices with Green Saffron’s Turkey Delight spice blend

Love leftovers

When everyone’s had their fill of turkey sandwiches, avoid food waste by totally transforming that turkey with Green Saffron’s Turkey Delight spice blend (€3.85). For freshness and flavour, it’s hard to beat Arun Kapil’s spices and Turkey Delight (also includes coconut milk, tomatoes and limes) has a transformative effect on leftovers. Kapil has his own supply chain, spices sourced ethically and directly from partner farms in India which ensures consistency of supply and quality while guaranteeing farmers’ incomes.

Turkey Delight, Kapil’s take on the Tamil vadagam blend of spices from South India, also works well with chicken so it’s worth getting a couple of packs as well as for gifting.

Have a fabulous meal and reduce food waste using responsibly sourced spices: it’s a win-win situation.

www.greensaffron.com

Bubbly Christmas

If you’re going around to someone’s house, ditch the soft drinks and bring Irish-made ‘bubbles’. Established by Laura Murphy in 2012 and now based in Gweedore, Co Donegal, SynerChi Kombucha is made by fermenting organic tea with a live culture of yeast and bacteria. It comes in a variety of flavours, including raspberry and rosehip, ginger and lemongrass and pear with matcha tea.

It’s never a bad idea to incorporate some fermented product into the diet, especially at Christmas time, and these beverages are unpasteurised, contain live cultures, which are good for the gut, and are made with organic teas. Each of the kombuchas are perfect for drinking solo and can even be used as a not-too-sweet mixer in other drinks.

SynerChi Kombucha, widely available nationwide: and cases can be bought online for €32 (12 x 330ml bottles) or €27 (12 x 250ml cans) with free delivery over €60.