Cool Earth at the Festival of World Cultures

Feelgood Organic Hampers has been asked to participate in this year's Cool Earth exhibition at the Dun Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures.

Run by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown CoCo's Environmental and Culture Department, the event takes place this Saturday and Sunday the 29th and 30th of August on the concourse of Dun Laoghaire County Hall between 11am and 6pm. It is the third year that it has been run and it aims to illustrate 'simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint'.

Speakers include Trevor Sargent , Evelyn Cusack from MET Eirann and Kieran O'Brien from UNICEF Ireland. There is also entertainment including music from environmental folk singer Enda Reilly, a mixture of Japanese and traditional Irish music from Philip Horan and Junshi Murakam and comedy from the hyper eco-aware MOMO Theatre company.

There will also be plenty of family friendly activities including making bird feeders and plant pots.

We will be there with a selection of the best Irish produced Organic Food, the Irish made skincare range from Flourish Organics a selection of organic cotton baby clothing and of course hampers. Other stall holders include the Amnesty Freedom cafe, Coolfin Gardens Organic Bakery, Glenisk, The Native Woodland Trust.

For more information check out the Cool Earth website.

Why Organic Strawberries?

I've really been enjoying this seasons strawberries, every week they seem to be getting sweeter and more full of flavour.

If you are living near to Enniscorthy don't miss out on the chance to visit the Wexford Strawberry Festival next weekend. It kicks off on Wednesday the 25th with a Strawberry Ball and goes on until the 29th of June. It would be worth going just on the chance of being able to sample the Organic Strawberries produced locally at the Wexford Organic Centre. 

So why should we choose organic strawberries? 

Thankfully one of the most devastating chemicals used in Strawberry production, Methyl Bromide was phased out in 2005. According to the Environmental Protection Agency the chemical was used as a pesticide both to sterilise the land before planting and after harvesting. Apart from the obvious concerns of chemical residue on the fruit itself it was found that Methyl Bromide was having a devastating effect on the ozone layer. It is also sited in the Environmental Protection Agencies Draft Guidance Note for Ozone Depleting Substances as being responsible for the deaths of some pesticide appliers. 

Unfortunately Methyl Bromide was only one of 50 chemicals that is listed by the Pesticides Action Network as being routinely used on Strawberry crops. I picked two at random from their list: Methomyl which when taken orally, inhaled or absorbed through the skin can cause symptoms which:

may include weakness, blurred vision, headache, nausea, abdominal cramps, chest discomfort, constriction of pupils, sweating, muscle tremors, and decreased pulse. If there is severe poisoning, symptoms of twitching, giddiness, confusion, muscle incoordination, slurred speech, low blood pressure, heart irregularities, and loss of reflexes may also be experienced - source extoxnet

And Thiophanate-methyl which although not anywhere near as toxic as Methomyl does cause skin and eye irritation.

So if you aren't lucky enough to be able to source organic strawberries on your doorstep try to buy from a small local supplier who is less likely to have used the full spectrum of chemicals and will be able to tell you exactly how they are grown.

Better still, why not try and grow your own next year!

Going Organic at The Electric Picnic

I'm posting a bit late this week, probably due to the recovery time I required after a mad and fantastic weekend at the Electric Picnic. For those of you who are not from Ireland or who have been locked in a small room for the last four years, The Electric Picnic is arguably Ireland's best music festival, the 'Glastonbury' of Ireland. Best of all it all happens just a few miles away from my house in Stradbally Co. Laois.

Most people would agree that one of the highlights of attending a festival of this kind is the food. As I wandered through the fields full of food stalls selling everything from chips and burgers to smoothies, paella and sushi I was surprised to find so much organic fare on offer. There was a little cafe near 'The Next Stage' that sold nothing but organic, vegetarian dinners of all descriptions. There was organic falafel, organic coffee and at least three tea shops offering organic blends. The farmers market area had a local organic fruit and veg stall and there was even a chance to enjoy an organic tipple at the stand belonging to Irish organic wine distributor Wilhelm Wines. One morning I found a crowd of people around a bunch of cool boxes, I was delighted to find that they were all full of organic Glenisk yogurts that were being given out for free!

With such a variety of foods and drink on offer at reasonable prices and with crowds of people ready to enjoy it I found myself wondering why prepared organic food is not more readily available throughout Ireland. There is the odd place popping up that offers some organic goodies but nowhere with the variety that was available at the Electric Picnic.

The most obvious reason would be the lack of supply of raw organic ingredients. There simply are not enough Irish grown organic vegetables or meats to ensure a constant supply of meals. Shipping organic foods from overseas has become a contentious issue and even if you only shipped from the UK by sea, ensuring minimum environmental impact, there is still not necessarily enough raw ingredients there to meet our combined needs.

So what is the solution? I guess we need to persuade more farmers to go organic. Although the amount of land here given over to organic farming is increasing, it is at a painfully slow rate. Farmers need to know that there is a market for organic produce. Large companies like Glenisk have been proactive in encouraging farmers to convert to organic milk production for them. But small manufacturers do not have the buying power to do this and to some extent this means we are stuck in a catch 22 situation.

Well done to the Electric Picnic for giving us a three day taste of organic utopia! Hopefully it will inspire some of us to fight for a more organic Ireland.