A SIMPLE SOLUTION

WEXFORD’S NEW ‘SIMPLY FOOD PLEDGE’ INITIATIVE AND ONLINE HUB PROMOTING QUALITY FOOD PRODUCED LOCALLY COULD BENEFIT EVERY COMMUNITY IN THE COUNTRY. DAVID TUCKER INVESTIGATES

YOUR Local Food Network ( YLFN) is in a state of transition.

Over the coming months it will be developed into an online hub that promotes small scale, local food production, sustainable farming and a circular economy, that could benefit every community in Ireland.

It will do so by providing a geographically categorised directory of food producers and should reduce food miles, food spoilage and extensive packaging and will help to create healthier and stronger communities.

Karen Nolan, the Wexford-based brains behind the project, makes the point that Ireland imports 70 per cent of its food, while Irish food products to the value of €4 billion leave the country annually.

It’s convenient to buy all the family’s weekly food in large supermarkets, but it’s not so easy for consumers to find out who is growing/farming/producing quality foods in their locality, let alone buy for them.

‘By developing an online directory of Irish small scale food producers, producers can be easily found by location enabling access to fresh, seasonal food that is grown or reared close by,’ said Karen.

‘YLFN will also provide a marketing platform and business resources to help small producers flourish,’ she said.

‘Getting to know your local producers and creating mutually beneficial relationships with them increases social binds and strengthens community spirit.

‘ The network hopes to host, or at least provide support for, annual events that gather local producers and the community together to share food.’

Karen said there is not a well-designed national online directory of small scale producers that encourages trading and the consumption of food within a short distance of where it was grown or reared.

Nor is there a directory listing all the alternative methods of small scale food production such as Community Supported Agriculture, box schemes, Community Co-ops together with the more mainstream such as farmers’ markets or local retail shops.

There is an opportunity here to talk about different methods of feeding our communities. By creating a collective of small food producers and bringing them into contact with these different solutions it should inspire new possibilities for living off the land.

Your Local Food Network also aims to provide support to smaller farmers and growers by showcasing their produce and working methods while helping to promote them in their local community.

Helping to forge mutually economic and beneficial relationships between the general public/ SMEs and their local food producers also has environmental benefits such as the reduction of food miles, food spoilage and extensive packaging. The online hub will promote awareness around sustainable, low impact farming practices and the importance of supporting local producers. It will also host and promote the newly introduced Simple Food Pledge initiative.

The Simple Food Pledge is a symbol for small to medium sized food producers, listed on the Your Local Food Network directory, to use as a sign of their commitment to the production of simple food - grown or raised without the use of synthetic chemicals. The symbol does not represent an official certification process with astringent rules and business inspections. It signifies a producer’s promise to farm or produce food in accordance with certain principles, which we call the Simple Food Pledge Principles. Pledge members are expected to self regulate and to respect and foster a sincere bond of trust between themselves and their customers.

Karen explains how the idea for the Simple Food Pledge evolved.

‘When compiling a list for the online directory of local food producers on Your Local Food Network it came to light that some food producers who care about the environmental impact of their food production, simply could not afford to convert to organic.

‘Even though their farming/growing practices are low-impact, ethical and sustainable, the cost and time implications of becoming certified to use the term Organic are too prohibitive. Many use the term “Chemical-free” (not ideal or entirely accurate) to convey the fact they do not use synthetic chemical based fertilisers or pesticides on their plants or in their animal fodder. They commonly do not feed their animals products containing antibiotics or GMOs. So, while not allowed to use the term Organic yet at the same time adopting sustainable farming practices the need for an easily identifiable definition became obvious.’

The ethos of promoting low-impact farming is maintained on the website through the listing of Simple Food Pledge and organic producers, but the directory is now opened to all small scale food producers in a position to supply their produce locally.

There will be an area on Your Local Food Network dedicated to the Simple Food Pledge.

Those who support Simple Food Pledge members’ businesses in some way, mostly retail shops/

THE PROJECT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO HELP EVERY COMMUNITY IN IRELAND - SOCIALLY, ENVIRONMENTALLY AND ECONOMICALLY