Food security is a concern in Ireland

Some 83% of the fruit and vegetables we consume are not Irish. We now import 70,000 tonnes of potatoes each year — as well as tens of thousands of tonnes of apples, carrots, onions and cabbage. In a special report, we investigate where our food comes from and why it matters

We are only 36% self-sufficient in the animal feed we use for beef and dairy production.

Ireland, often touted as the food isle, is a major exporter of food and food produced here can feed up to 40 million people — we are the third largest exporter of butter globally and the fifth largest exporter of beef, staggering statistics for a small country.

This might lead us to believe that as a nation we are self-sufficient and need not worry about food security, however, we are net importers of many of our most consumed foods.