Dublin Food Growing

Dublin Food Growing is a non-profit network of people and groups dedicated to increasing the quantity, quality, diversity and positive effect of food grown in Dublin. They connect people growing at all scales from the smallest window boxes, back gardens, community and school gardens, allotments, all the way up to market gardens and commercial farms. They are involved with developing food growing projects, advocacy, research, policy, networking, education, and of course growing food.

An t-Ionad Glas, the Organic College

An t-Ionad Glas, the Organic College, was founded in 1991 and runs the only nationally certified, full-time and part-time courses in Organic production in Ireland. The College is located in the small country town of Dromcollogher, Co. Limerick, home of the Rural Co-operative movement in Ireland and Britain. Students learn in the classroom and outdoors at the Community Gardens and the Enterprise Acre. The gardens are fully Certified Organic, and are maintained by the students of the Organic Horticulture and Farming Courses on a co-operative basis. The College also runs courses through distance and flexible learning as well as a range of short courses, including weekend seminars, tours, workshops and night classes. For more information about the College and it's courses click here.

As if we need more!

'In the capital of the Scottish Highlands, it is estimated that more than 50p in
every pound spent by the city's 66,000 shoppers ends up in the tills of one of
three local Tesco stores.'

And if the Competition Commission get their way it is likely that even more will end up in the pockets of the big 4. Instead of grappling with the issue of the growing power of supermarkets and their impact on local producers and sellers the recent Competition Commission's report look like it will make easier for them to expand their operations and the negative impacts these have on local communities. In the UK two new supermarkets are opening each week while 2000 local retailers go out of business each year.

Of course there are plenty of options to by-pass the bully boys. There are a growing number of organic producers who are willing to deliver quality, locally produced vegetables, fruits and meats to your doorstep anywhere in Northern Ireland. Click here for more details.

Food for life

One of the largest studies of its kind has found that organically grown food is more nutritious and healthier compared to its conventionally grown counterpart. The Quality Low Input Food (QLIF) project, involving 33 academic centres across Europe and led by Newcastle University, analysed the 725-acre farm’s produce for compounds believed to boost health and combat disease.

'While the results show significant variations, with some conventional
crops having larger quantities of some vitamins than organic crops. But
researchers confirm that the overall trend is that organic fruit, vegetables and
milk are more likely to have beneficial compounds.'

According to Professor Carlo Leifert, Team Leader of the QLIF Project,

'the compounds which have been found in greater quantities in organic produce
include vitamin C, trace elements such as iron, copper and zinc, and secondary
metabolites which are thought to help to combat cancer and heart disease.'

Read more here.

For a more global perspective on the links between food, food production and health check out the latest issue of LEISA Magazine, Healthier Farmers, Better Products, available for download here.

Healthy solutions, farming solutions

Visit the Farming Solutions website and read some of the stories 'celebrating the huge diversity of ecologically sound and productive farming practices' being used by farmers and their local communities in Europe and elsewhere. Go one step further and share your experiences.

Learning together for organic agriculture

'In the 1980s, Dutch farmers started cultivating new land in an area that formerly had been at the bottom of the sea. Although there was a growing interest from consumers in organically grown products, organic agricultural practices were still hardly developed in the Netherlands in those days. A group of farmers started a club with the aim to develop and share knowledge on organic production systems. Over the years this initiative developed into a formal organisation for organic farmers with more than 70 members. Once enough knowledge had been generated by this group, their mission has shifted towards strategic representation in influential agricultural organisations and lobbying activities.'

Hans Peter Reinders writes more here.

I wonder if there are any such 'learning and sharing' farmer clubs or organisations in Ireland.

Is organic milk hard to swallow?

There is a row fermenting in the UK over the organic status of milk. As more and more people in the UK chose organic milk there is growing concern about the welfare of cows involved in production. In non-organic milk production it is common practice for male calves not good enough for beef production are slaughtered or exported for intensive veal production. Now an investigation by Channel 4 reveals that the practice is common among organic dairy farms and the problem seems to lie with conflicting organic standards between certifying bodies in the UK, such as the Organic Food Foundation, and their counterparts at the Soil Association. The Soil Association's position on the issue is that the export of live male calves for intensive veal production is not 'organic' and I would have thought the majority of organic consumers in the UK would be of the same opinion.

The article concludes that a solution won't be reached until all standards organisations agree to a total ban on live calf exports. Surely exploring options for marketing humanely raised veal can help.

For more interesting news items and stories from the world of organic agriculture check out the relevant section of the Agricultural Biodiversity Blog

Status of organic agriculture in the UK

According to an article by John Vidal in the Guardian organic agriculture in the UK is still growing but could be badly affected in the next few years by higher prices and difficulties finding enough produce. According to the Soil Association's Annual Market Report the UK public wants more locally grown food but consumers are still largely located in the more affluent parts of the UK. Helen Browning, director of Food and Farming at the Soil Association said that the biggest surprise of 2006,

'was the growing popularity of box schemes where households are delivered a
selection of fruit, vegetables and sometimes organic meat. Sales of boxes
increased 53% last year, with more being sold direct by supermarkets. But the
old idea of boxes of gnarled-looking vegetables delivered from small farms
complete with soil and beetles is changing. Some "boxes" now cost £250, and the
biggest schemes may collect from 60 or more farms and serve 10,000 or more
customers.'

A recent poll carried out by the Soil Association has found that 38% of people wanted local sourcing of food but the Guardian article highlights that nearly 50% of people who bought organic produce in 2006 thought that it was too expensive.

The NI Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 document reports uptake of DARD's Organic Farming Scheme has been much lower than expected when the scheme was launched in 2001. In 2004, agricultural land under organic production in NI was only 0.62% compared to a corresponding figure of 4.25% in England.

The Organic Action Plan Group for Northern Ireland, established in 2005 to lead the strategic development of the organic sector, produced its action plan in 2006.