Food Day 2010
Ballydehob Food Day
For about seven hours on Sunday the Community Hall in Ballydehob became a Mecca for anyone with an interest in food – from producing food, marketing food, adding value by processing food, to consuming food and examining the social, economic and political issues arising from the production, distribution and consumption of food.
The Ballydehob Local Food Production Day, an annual event, was the third of its kind.
A plethora of colourful stalls populated the main hall, including:
• Irish Countrywomen’s Association (ICA) stall
• A display of locally-grown grains by Madeline McKeever of Brown Envelope Seeds
• Permaculture with Graham Strouts from Kinsale Further Education College
• Several displays of edible seaweeds
• A mulitplicity of apple varieties grown by Paul McCormick and Jacinta French of Woodkerne Nurseries
• Information about Bantry House Country Courses
• Raffle
• Face-painting and arts & crafts for kids
• Big displays of vegetables by local organic producers
• Various cake and snack stalls
• A café providing the essential tea, coffee and herbal tea!
Talks and discussions held in the side hall included:
• Lord David Puttnam on “Climate Change & Food Security”
• Dr. Oliver Moore on “Turning a Farm into an Organic Food Business”
• Jean Perry on “The Basics of Composting”
• Paul McCormick and Jacinta French on “Growing Nut Trees in Ireland”
• Donnacha O’Callaghan on “Community Supported Agriculture – the story in Ballydehob”
• “Gardeners’ Question Time” with four expert local gardeners.
By late afternoon things were running over half an hour late because audiences were so interested and asked so many questions!
Kitchen demonstrations included:
• “Seaweed Cooking” with Christine Thery
• “Chutney- & Wine-Making” with John Lynch
• “How to Cook what you Grow” with Beth Hallinan
At lunchtime a “Local Food Plate” was served, consisting of foods produced or grown as close as possible to Ballydehob, and was very popular indeed!
And as a bit of fun, there were competitions for the biggest pumpkin, the biggest sunflower and the funniest-shaped vegetable, as well as wellie-throwing for those wishing to work off some of the calories.
Above all the event provided a great opportunity for networking, bringing together as it did farmers, local food producers, horticulturalists, landowners, political activists, campaigners and consumers. Many new connections were made and older ones developed and strengthened. This created a really vibrant buzz throughout the venue, and with the sun shining outside, helped make the Ballydehob Food Day 2010 an event to remember.
Many thanks must go to the many people who gave freely of their time, energy, goodwill and knowledge to make this great event such a hit.
As one well-known local organic producer commented:
“It was great to meet some of our customers and exchange gardening lore. The Ballydehob Food day is a great way of fostering connections between producers and consumers, eating well and having a good time. I loved it.“