Cork farmer features in new series on food

A CORK farmer managing to grow a superfood in bad soil features in a new series next week which looks at Ireland’s whole approach to the food system.

Called Food Matters, the six-part series sees Grow Your Own (GIY) founder Michael Kelly tour the land to assess Ireland’s food sustainability and how the food system is a major contributor to the climate change emergency.

In the first episode on RTÉ1 on Wednesday (March 29) at 8.30pm, he travels to West Cork to visit Dr Steve Collins, who is farming on the side of a mountain in Bantry and successfully growing a superfood - an organic Aronia Berry Juice - despite the poor soil.

He also visits Kildare to speak to a farmer who has started to think a bit differently when it comes to his soil.

Michael then heads to Kilbeggan to see how nutrient-enhancing soil on an organic oat farm is proving very healthy, before finishing in Cork and looking at a potential future solution to urban growing in a surprisingly different garden on a rooftop.

Throughout the series, Michael travels across Ireland to meet with farmers, food producers, food experts, climate experts, chefs, economists, ecologists and activists, as he digs deep to uncover the complexity of the Irish food system, how it works, how it delivers and how it impacts the environment.

“The food system is a major contributor to the climate emergency and the choices we make each day around food can be some of the most compelling pieces of climate action we can take in our lives,” said Michael.

“There are inspiring solutions to the problems in our food system happening right under our noses. In Food Matters, I take a journey around Ireland to explore these issues and meet the people and projects that can help to change the food system one meal at a time.”

The series aims to demystify the complexity of the global food chain by introducing the passionate people who are making a difference here in Ireland and helping to create a more sustainable food system for all of us.”

The series is filmed at Michael’s GROW HQ in Waterford and features locations nationwide during each half-hour episode taking the audience on a new journey from plot to planet.

In the second episode of Food Matters on April 5, Michael talks to Cork food writer and researcher Regina Sexton, and heads to the world-renowned cookery school of Ballymaloe to chat to chef and food lecturer Rory O’Connell about the importance of eating seasonally when it comes to chefs, their food, and cooking.