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Vegetable shortage crisis yet Irish vegetable growers are going out of business
by Mediateam
In a brand-new TV series Food Matters, the presenter and founder of GIY (Grow It Yourself) Michael Kelly meets food producers from all across the country to investigate the sustainability of Ireland’s food system.
The series is now on air until 3 May on RTÉ One Since filming finished just a few weeks ago, one of the county’s biggest vegetable growers has gone out of business, yet there has never been a bigger shortage of vegetables.
Cathal Lenehan, one of the country’s largest cabbage and Brussels sprout growers, has left the industry after three generations due to rising costs.
Freezing temperatures impacted the production of tomatoes and peppers in Europe this year However, Kelly says that we have a huge variety of alternative Irishgrown vegetables that are in season and these go under-appreciated and the growers are unsupported.
“If we don’t look after our food producers we’re never going to fix our broken food system,” he says “Farmers and small producers face increased pressures. This is not sustainable for our fragile food system. One possible solution is that we need to turn to a more local-based system, go direct to the producers, shop at shops that support local, shop fresh and shop seasonal.”
Food Matters airs on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 8pm each Wednesday evening until 3 May. For further details, see www.giy.ie
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