Our Thinking

Conversation with Jennifer McConnell, Irish Seed Savers The first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic here in Ireland coincided with Spring and a spectacular Spring at that. Suddenly people had a lot more time on their hands, and many turned their hand to growing their own food. There was suddenly an

Back in April, I started recording a zoom interviews about the impact of Covid -19 on Irish food*. The first was this one with Siobhan Ni Ghairbhith, producer of St. Tola Goat Cheese in Clare and a well known face in Irish artisan food. Sadly, we are back in a

Today, to mark World Food Day, I am sharing a short clip from my conversation back in May* with Jennifer McConnell, General Manager of Irish Seed Savers, where we speak briefly about the concept of food sovereignty and the role that seed collections like the one at Irish Seed Savers

What we need to nurture is a love of food, a culture where food is valued and enjoyed, not analysed and feared. Over the last four weeks you may have been grappling with a new year’s resolution to get more active, eat healthier, lose weight. But when you decide to

Can we do better than individually plastic-wrapped sweating limp fruit and veg? My home is no dietary utopia, but my children are decent eaters and have always been taught the importance of tasting new things. Tasting is pivotal to encouraging children to have a varied and nutritious diet. This is

What makes a food product unique to one region, and how do countries in the EU and elsewhere protect them in law? Prosciutto di Parma or “Parma ham” bears a brand, the outline of a crown with the word “PARMA” inside it, given to it by the consorzio (or producer