Last week I was speaking on a panel discussion about food at the amazing Samhain Festival of food in Kells, and just before we went on, I was listening to a speaker he said: “If you think being healthy is an expensive business, just try the business of being sick” he had a point.
We can mostly get all the sustenance we need from a fresh healthy organic wholefood diet. Yet more and more people are getting sick, this I think is at least partly a reflection on what we are consuming. But you know what? When asked it is clear we want cleaner healthier food.
3 out of 4 people in Ireland would like to see pesticides phased out or replaced by more natural alternatives, this was the result of a survey of out 1000 Irish people conducted by Pesticide Action Network Europe just last week.
The survey also spanned several other European countries, and the response was broadly the same. This is important because the EU is currently trying to pass legislation that will weaken pesticide regulation across the bloc and make it much more difficult to get pesticides re-examined once they are approved.
Of course, this would represent a great victory for large agribusiness and certainly will do nothing for the smaller and organic farmers across Europe, not only that but for consumers it will mean less rigorous protection. The law is called “The food and feed safety omnibus” and if you disagree you can sign a petition here to voice your concerns.
Maybe as a small business owner we should start a petition of our own to make it easier to survive in the business landscape here in Ireland.
It seems increasingly in Ireland that running a small business is borderline unsustainable. The amount of regulation, taxation, and general responsibilities that are expected of a small business (that of course big business can weather), is just unsustainable. To expect that we can do all that our bigger business competitors (those that have full departments managing these things) can do is just unreasonable, how can we keep our heads above water with all that is expected?
It has been a challenging few weeks and sometimes it seems the growing of the vegetables is the only place where a little respite can be had. There is a certain peace out in the fields that is gratefully accepted after busy stressful weeks.
So, we can be thankful for the weather, the beautiful dry crisp mornings, the gorgeous healthy food, the clean air, the trees, the birds and all of nature that helps us cope with life’s challenges and to you our customers who keep us going and keep us growing.
Thank you
Kenneth
PS Our Christmas shop is now open, we have decided this year to cap our Christmas boxes to help with harvest and planning so the earlier you get your order in the better.
PPS We are looking for temporary staff just for the Christmas and early January period and we are also looking for full-time staff, if you are interested can you send your CV to ella@greenearthorganics.ie