Lisa getting back to food basics in new book that’s to launch at Food Fair

WELL-KNOWN Kerry artist Lisa Fingleton replaced her brush with pen in a recent mission to wake people up to the nature of today’s food market and encourage them back to good, wholesome local produce.

It’s a mission getting a great platform at the Listowel Food Fair, where Lisa will launch the book ‘The Local Food Project’ at the Arms Hotel on Monday, November 12, at 7pm. It is a clarion call to food and health awareness, with a message Food Fair founder Jimmy Deenihan called ‘stark’. And it all came from a BLT Lisa bought. Thinking three ingredients between bread? Think again.

“One day I bought a BLT sandwich in a petrol station and I couldn’t believe that there were over 40 listed ingredients from all over the world including such things as Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, xanthan gum, emulsifier and stabilisers,” Lisa said.

Palm oil was another - an ever present ingredient in processed foods these days and one Lisa knows exactly the price of, having seen the devastation palm plantations have wreaked on the rainforests of Borneo with her own eyes.

The BLT revelation caused Lisa to completely rethink our approach to food and the globalised nature of the food industry. She duly undertook the 30-day challenge to eat only locally-produced food, learning so much in the process - all of it now to be shared with readers.

“I am delighted the book will be launched at the Listowel Food Fair. The book explores the power of growing and eating local food. Incorporating drawings, photography and text, the book is the culmination of three years of work. The book is creatively presented in journal style and is filled with ideas and actions for people who think global and want to act local,” she said.

Photo by Domnick Walsh It’s a Listowel Food Fair launch for Lisa Fingleton’s book The Local Food Project - sharing her expertise in sourcing the healthiest and most local of good foods.