Agriculture and Food

Multinationals supermarkets are something which have in recent years become common place in our larger towns.  They are an inexpensive and convenient way to shop.  However they need not be the only way we sell and source our food.

I have consulted extensively with Peter Ward the Good Food Ireland Person of the Year 2010 on this issue.  I have also met with him at what is Ireland’s best example of a local food market ‘the milk market’ in Limerick City.  Here Peter and other local producers from the area sell to the public at prices that are competitive with the supermarket. Peter Ward deals directly with local suppliers offering them a market for their excellent produce.  It has created much employment in the Munster countryside and is a model that can replicated all over Roscommon and Leitrim.

I am proposing that a newly empowered local government would aim to create a farmers market in every town in the country with a population of 1500 and more.  The effect of selling local food benefits more than just the farmer.  This money also circulates around the local economy. The farmer purchases services from other locals who in turn purchase more local food creating further employment. This means we get a multiplier effect on every euro of food that is produced.

Roscommon & South Leitrim spent €9 million alone on fruit and vegetables in 2010. We spent over €14.5 million on draught beer and stout.  The vast majority of this is not produced in the area. If we look at all the other products we purchase which could be produced locally such as bread, cheese, beer, and believe it or not drinking water, then it is clear that we unnecessarily leach 10’s of millions of Euro out of the local economy on an every year.

I have visited The Galway Hooker brewery in Roscommon Town and seen first hand that we have the people who can produce a top quality product to compete with the best.  I have seen examples of where local farmers produce fruit and vegetables of the finest quality and sell it direct to the public at a profit.  We cannot continue to produce so little of what we consume and at the same time expect rural Ireland to survive.  It is essential for the future of this area that the local economy once again thrives.  We have to make this happen!