Anois Teacht an Earraigh ~ now that Spring is here…

Scroll down for the English text…

Togra ealaíne faoi cheapaire BLT (!)  Le déanaí chuir mé aithne ar an t-ealaíontóir Lisa Fingleton.  Tá sí ina cónaí ar fheirm i gContae Chiarraí agus fásann sí an chuid is mó dá bia féin. Dúirt sí liom faoi thogra ealaíne a chuir sí ar bun, togra a d’eascraigh ó cheapaire ar cheannaigh sí i stáisiún peitril tráth.

Nuair a léigh sí an lipéad, baineadh geit asti mar go raibh tuairim is 40 ábhar éagsúla insan ceapaire céanna agus chuir sé sin ag smaoineamh í.  A leithéid de thuras a rinne an ceapaire úd – agus na comhábhair éagsúla – chun teacht chuici sin!

Cé mhéad eitleán, bád nó trucail a bhí i gceist?  Cé mhéad fear, bean nó páiste a bhí i gceist leis na glasraí a phiocadh, a nigh is a phacáil? Cé mhéad pá a fuair siad don obair?  Conas ar caitheadh leis na h-ainmhithe? Tá duine éicint, áit éicint, ag íoc an phraghais i dtéarmaí droch-choinníollacha d’oibrithe, impleachtaí sláinte srl. Níl a leithéid de rud ann i ndáiríre le bia ‘saor’.

An Gáirdín ~ the organic farm at Barna dearg, Co. Kerry

Taispeánadh an togra sa ghailearaí ag VISUAL i gCeatharlach i 2018 ach lean Lisa leis an taighde. “Ní fhásann ach 1% d’fheirmeoirí na hÉireann glasraí,” a deir sí, “an líon is ísle san Eoraip. Cén fáth nach bhfuil muid ag fás níos mó glasraí?”

Ansin, chuir sí tús leis an Dúshlán Bia Áitiúil chun daoine a spreagadh le bia áitiúil amháin a ithe i rith mí Meán Fómhair gach bliain. Bhí sé sin deacair go leor mar bhí orthu maireachtáil gan siúcra, óraistí, seacláidí agus mar sin ar feadh míosa – ach bealach iontach a bhí ann le tacú le táirgeoirí áitiúla agus ar ndóigh, bhí bia úr blasta acu le n-ithe nár chuir leis an lorg carbóin sa tír.

I’ve been taking a wonderful online ecoliteracy course in recent weeks and there’s so much to tell but today, I wanted to talk about The Local Food Project which was started by the artist Lisa Fingleton who runs an eco-social organic farm in Kerry with her partner Rena Blake.

It started with a sandwich (!)  – Did you know that there were over 40 ingredients in a BLT sandwich? All sorts of stuff – including palm oil that comes from the other end of the world. How many planes, boats or trucks were involved in the production of that sandwich?  Why don’t we grow more of our own food here in Ireland?

So a few years ago, Lisa decided to start the 30 Day Local Food Challenge. “By eating only Irish food”, she writes, “I hoped to reduce air miles, support local farmers and growers, eat food that is tasty and fresh and in a small way, resist capitalist systems that insist that food is only about profit.  I also wanted to link with local growers and engage the community around me to think about what we were eating and how we could be more sustainable in our food consumption”.

Spring has arrived and right now is the time to be planting seeds and growing our own vegetables.  My painting above was inspired by the seedlings that are popping up all over the place at the moment (a sneak preview from my solo exhibition at the Olivier Cornet Gallery next month!)

https://lisafingleton.com/

https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/thelocalfoodproject

https://www.oliviercornetgallery.com/