Issue for us all - BSE scare in Louth

THE discovery of a suspected BSE case on a dairy farm in Co Louth must be a cause for great concern. It casts a shadow over the optimism generated by the end of milk quotas and the ambitions central to Food Harvest 2020.

Fri, 12 Jun, 2015 - 01:00

Editorial

It is though a confirmation that our testing systems are robust and reliable, that they are strong enough to prevent any infected animal entering the food chain. This must be the paramount consideration.

Nevertheless, the world food markets are so very sensitive, so very fickle that any question mark over any source of produce, no matter how contained or controlled, will probably have an impact. The timing of this discovery so soon after the celebrations around the reopening of the American market to Irish beef, is more than unfortunate.

None of us can be too judgemental about modern, industrialised farming because we all depend on its produce but every outbreak like this brings into question the sustainability of current models and the appetites that drive them. This is not just a farming issue, it is a society-wide challenge.