Rain at last, and we didn’t ask for it 

by Kenneth Keavey

Rain at last. We never asked for it, we have definitely learned our lesson there. But we couldn’t have asked for a better run of it. Between the amazing sunshine and rain just when we needed it, it has been a miraculous start to the season and for once we are absolutely delighted with progress on the farm. We are so busy at the moment, as the three main tasks are starting to coalesce. We are planting, harvesting and the big one, weeding has just started too.


Our first sowing of carrots and parsnips have just poked their little heads through the soil, which was earlier than expected, but they look good. You know what we will do between now and harvest? We will weed with machines and by hand and we will cover them with nets to exclude the carrot root fly, and that’s it.


In my view, it would make a remarkable difference to how we perceive the value of food if we knew how it was produced, what if the list of chemicals used on the produce were mentioned on the pack, how would that influence our decisions I wonder?
For conventional carrot production right here in Europe and in the UK, here are some of the lovely hidden extras you may be getting. Behind the bright orange crunch is a complex spraying programme involving herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides – some systemic, some not – all used to ensure a blemish-free, marketable crop.
Carrots are sprayed with herbicides, usually starting with Glyphosate prior to planting, then a couple of other stars Pendimethalin and Aclonifen. They can be sprayed 2-3 times per season.
Then it is over to insect control, expect possibly Cyantraniliprole (Benevia), which is systemic (goes into the plant) and Lambda-cyhalothrin (Karate Zeon) which is toxic to bees and aquatic organisms.


It wouldn’t be right to leave out a whole group of chemicals, so not be missed next it is the turn of the fungicides, the likes of Prothioconazole and Azoxystrobin + Difenoconazole (Amistar Top), both are systemic and the last one is an endocrine disruptor, not good for us.
In 2023 the UK found chemicals in 43% of carrots tested, so nearly half.


It is so hard these days to connect how our food has been produced, what has been sprayed on it, and how those in our food system, humans and pollinators alike, have been treated, it seems to me that supermarket led cheap food comes at great cost.
The best way to avoid chemicals and the damage they do to biodiversity is if possible, to choose organic.


Growing some of your own food is an amazing way to connect us with the miracle of nature and the true value of our food.


As always thank you for your support

Kenneth

Would we survive another 50 years without our insect friends?

by Kenneth Keavey

1 teaspoon of the neonicotinoid Thiamethoxam can kill 1.25 billion bees, that is more than all the bees in North America! The “Insect Apocalypse” is already underway, some areas, like German nature reserves, have seen insect biomass drop by 75% in 30 years.

“If all insects were to disappear it is thought that all life on earth would end within 50 years, if all human beings were to disappear within 50 years all forms of life would flourish.” – Jonas Salk.

It is impossible to picture our farm without insects, the bees, the flies and the butterflies, it would be empty, over the last couple of weeks with the amazing weather they have been out in abundance. Insects are crucial to life on earth, and pesticides and climate change are having a massively negative impact on them.

When a farmer or a gardener goes and sprays glyphosate on the land, they kill all plants. Have you ever seen a bright yellow field that has been sprayed with Roundup, it is not pleasant. This herbicide in one fell chemical swoop destroys all biodiversity that would have been home to millions of our little insect friends. Conventional agricultural nearly always starts with Roundup.

Have you ever noticed “tram lines” in cereal fields, these lines are there to allow the tractor to follow the same path to prevent damage to the crop. They are used so the conventional farmer can spray chemicals on his crop multiple times. These include, fungicides, growth promotors to prevent cereals from lodging (falling over), pesticides and herbicides and they can be sprayed several times in one season.

So, removing chemical from our food supply is critical to the health of our pollinators and we need our insect friends because if they disappeared, we would have a few very serious problems:

1. Pollination Collapse

About 75% of global crops depend at least in part on pollinators, Without insect pollination, yields of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and many oilseeds would plummet.

2. Food Web Disruption

Insects are the base of many food chains. Birds, amphibians, reptiles, and many mammals depend on insects for food. A collapse in insect populations would cause cascading extinctions, weakening ecosystems and agriculture alike.

3. Decomposition and Soil Fertility

Insects like beetles, ants, and flies are crucial decomposers. Without them, dead organic matter would accumulate, slowing nutrient cycling, degrading soil health, and impacting plant growth.

4. Pest Control

Many insects prey on crop pests. If all insects vanished, pest populations (like mites and some plant diseases) could explode without natural enemies, further devastating crops.Insects are not just pests—they’re fundamental to life on Earth. Their disappearance would trigger a slow-motion ecological and agricultural collapse.

Organic may not be a perfect system, but it at least give biodiversity a fighting chance and keeps chemicals out of our food chain.

As always thank you for your support, without it we would not be here.

Kenneth

Has the sun gone to my head? Possibly…

by Kenneth Keavey

With the sun beating down and the tractor leaving plumes of dust in its wake, you would be forgiven for thinking we are in Spain, or some other such hot country. But no, this is the west of Ireland, the weather is better in the last few weeks than cumulatively over the last two years, or maybe I have just been traumatised by all the rain and cannot remember the rare glimpses of sunshine we must have had.

We are for the first time in our near 20 years of veg production ahead of schedule, the amazing farm team and the fantastic weather and thankfully for once the machines obeying the rule of man are all working nicely together. I am not naive enough to think this synergy will last, but maybe it will.  I will embrace the poor me a little here, we are due a break. I think this could finally be our year, or maybe it takes 20 years to learn how to do it, how to grow 20 different types of vegetables on a commercial scale and do it organically.

2 weeks ago, I spoke with Nina Carberry an MEP and Darina Allen, and we had a conversation about food and our future. Here is one of the fundamental facts in relation to our global food system, of which we are but a tiny piece, (In terms of general agricultural exports we are definitely punching above our weight, but this is a terminal, short term outlook. When it comes to sustainability, we are sacrificing the good of our land for agricultural intensification and beef and dairy exports)

But here is the thing, the way we farm must change, global agriculture is the leading driver of biodiversity loss on our planet, it contributes 30% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. The science is clear, burning fossil fuels and cutting down rainforests to grow more soya to feed cows is going to burn our planet, it also consumes 70% of all our fresh water supplies.

This needs to change, but here is the thing, global government agricultural subsidies are now standing a staggering $540 billion, and are on track to soar to $1.8 trillion by 2030. Not only that but the majority of these subsidies fund agricultural practices and therefore food products that are laying our land bare. Think also of the intensive use of pesticides in GMO crops to grow the feed that ultimately funds this huge factory farmed animal industry.

So effectively our taxes go toward subsidising a food system, that keeps unhealthy food cheap (think ultraprocessed products) and therefore fresh food more expensive. If more of these subsidises were funnelled toward fresh local organic production, then this would certainly even the playing field when it comes to price.

You might think that all the sun has gone to my head, well that may well be the case, and madness was probably creeping in many years ago for who in their right mind would have embarked on this endeavour otherwise, but things are moving in the right direction.

So, the question remains what can we do about it? Well as it turns out we can do a lot, we really can, and this is the best part about all of this, when it comes to our food, we as consumers have power, real power, the power to choose wisely, the power to decide what food to purchase and where to purchase it.  Our decisions and choices really do matter, and they send a powerful message and can effect real change.

We can take definite action for change today; Visit a farmer’s market, support us, grow a little yourself, look at the country of origin in the supermarket, choose fresh local organic produce where you can, add more vegetables and less meat to your plate. It is all within our power.

As always thank you for your support

Kenneth

What is the most valuable item you will ever purchase?

by Kenneth Keavey

My feeling when it comes to pesticide residues in our food is that the only safe limit is a zero limit. If I were to tell you that 50% of the food you eat contains pesticide residues, how would you feel?

My Grandad farmed on this piece of land that we now farm organically. He had a mixed family farm and grew much of his own food as did many in the locality back then. This food was more nutritious, it tasted better, it was fresher than food today, it was free from chemicals, and it was local and seasonal.

Today our food system is a complex web of producers, processors and logistics.  When we walk into a supermarket, we don’t have time to think too much about where our food comes from our how it was produced, the shiny plastic packs of produce give us the impression that our food system is limitless, vibrant and fair. Indeed, this very supermarket system and the global food corporations that supply it have disconnected us from our food and have been complicit in devaluing our most valuable commodity:  food.

Since my grandad’s time in the early 1950’s agriculture and food have changed unrecognisably. It has undergone a green revolution. Ironically this “green revolution” has left our current food system broken. GMOs, giant monocultures, pesticides, herbicides, artificial fertilisers and factory farms dominate our global food supply system, all hidden behind those shiny plastic packs on the supermarket shelves.

The term “green revolution” was always something that struck me as a bit odd, especially when you consider what green means today, this was a revolution that switched our agricultural system from a natural approach to a chemistry centred approach.

I am an organic farmer, but I wasn’t always. In fact, and again ironically, I was an organic chemist, I have a Ph. D in chemistry from Cambridge University. I spent nearly 15 years working with chemicals, pharmaceuticals and in the biotech industry, so I know a thing or two about chemicals.

Today chemicals are used to force nature to behave in the way they want, they have tried to impose factory type controls onto the natural environment that we rely on for our food.  But nature is not a factory, and the same rules do not apply, you cannot indiscriminately apply chemicals to our food and not expect a fall out. 

A report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found that nearly half the food they tested from almost 81,000 food samples had pesticides in them. Strawberries and lettuce are the most likely to exceed safe limits, the agency found. They are especially sensitive to fungus and bugs and so undergo considerable spraying with pesticides.

More than one in four (27.3%) of the food samples contained traces of more than one pesticide. 

The food we put into our bodies is one of the most valuable investments we can ever make. The simple fact is you can taste value, and if you have ever tasted a freshly harvested tomato, warm from the vine, free from chemicals, full of life and nutrition, then you will know what I am talking about here, that is real value. I think my grandad instinctively knew that, but then again that was all there was back then.

Here is to the best value food in the world.

As always thank you for your support.

Kenneth

Link to report below.

A new report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found that more than 97% of foods contain pesticide residue levels that fall within legal limits. Strawberries are the most likely to exceed safe limits, the agency found.

About 55% of the samples evaluated by EFSA were free of detectable traces of these chemicals, the agency said.

This means nearly half of food products in Europe contain residues of pesticides.

The highest rate of exceeding safety limits was for strawberries (2.5% of the sample), followed by lettuce (2.3%). They are especially sensitive to fungus and bugs and so undergo considerable spraying with pesticides.

‘Cocktail’ effects

More than one in four (27.3%) of the food samples contained traces of more than one pesticide. 

Chemical kale, and some amazing news….

by Kenneth Keavey

Our food is probably one of the most valuable investments we can make, and our decisions affect us deeply, and over time they take their toll. Look at the rise of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic inflammatory disease.

The long-term impact of consuming too much sugar, or ultra processed foods is clear, but what is less clear is the cumulative impact of the pesticides and herbicides that are endemic in our food, the hidden extras that we never see.

What is the impact of the small amounts of pesticides we consume in our food daily, the cocktail effect of these chemicals over a period of years can be profound.

What if our organic kale was just kale, and the conventional chemical sprayed kale had to be called “chemical kale” ? Our impression of food would change our realisation that our food is grown with chemicals would be clear.  We may then consider their impact on our health, or how our food choices impact biodiversity.

At the moment our kale fields are bursting with flowers, and bees and biodiversity.  They are also covered in aphids, as the kale is at the end of the season they are doing little harm. These aphids in conventional systems only a few years ago would have been treated with neonicotinoid chemicals, these systemic chemicals were shown to kill bees.  The chemical industry denied and lobbied against groups that wanted them banned, knowing full well they were killing the bees. Thankfully these chemicals are now banned.

We have just been designated as a conservation area for the native Irish honey bee, the bee hives that Gerry manages on our farm are native Irish honey bees and these bees are, as all bees are under threat from habitat destruction, the relentless intensification of agriculture, the loss of biodiversity and the overuse of chemicals in our food chain. The Irish honey bee is unique to Ireland and it needs to be protected. Our food choices directly impact Gerry’s honey bees, in this case in a very positive way, and they are thriving on our farm.

Not only do our food choices, impact our food, but it seems they also impact the quality of our drinking water. Irish water this week announced that they have found 66 exceedances of what they deem is the safe limit of pesticides in our water. I would argue that the only safe limit is a zero-tolerance limit. A senior manager said:

“We want to remind users to be mindful of water sources when using pesticides, as one drop of pesticide can be detected in a stream up to 30km away.”

Chemicals found included MCPA (used to kill rushes),   2,4-D (this was a chemical found in the notorious agent orange concoction sprayed to defoliate forests during the Vietnam war).  And of course glyphosate, the main ingredient in all-purpose Roundup makes a star appearance, which is no surprise.

But as with Gerry’s bees, our food choices really do matter, they drive a different type of food production, they change the laws of the land, they get chemicals banned. So, the next time you are choosing food, if there is an organic option, maybe if you can choose that, it really matters.

As always thank you for your support,

Kenneth

Chemical carrots, that doesn’t sound right or does it?

by Kenneth Keavey

Why do we have to call our carrots “organic carrots”, whilst carrots grown with chemicals get to be called “carrots”. We have two organic certification inspections every year to prove that we are doing what we say we are doing.

We must pay for the privilege to demonstrate we are doing the right thing. When you think about it, it doesn’t seem right. And yet as aside it is the world we live in. If you do not know your food producer, then to be sure that your food is chemical free, organic certification is the only way to get food you can trust.

But why is it that chemical usage on our food is the norm and we need to demonstrate we are different because we don’t use chemicals?

I want to call our carrots, just carrots. It changes the narrative, it makes you stop and think, we are farming without chemicals and yet we must prove that we are not using chemicals.How would our mindset change, if when we picked up a pack of carrots in a supermarket they were labelled “chemical carrots”. Well, I would hazard a guess that fewer packs of these carrots would be picked up and more organic carrots would.

Fresh produce did not used to be differentiated, there was just carrots. But the organic label was coined to give people a choice to opt for not consuming toxic chemicals with their food. This only really became an issue as the prevalence of synthetic chemicals in our food chain grew. I am taking here about the generation of pesticides that were developed from the 1960s on and created a whole new multibillion dollar industry built on agrichemical control of our food. Modern synthetic fungicides, pesticides and herbicides are in and on our food, some are systemic in nature, others damage the soil, biodiversity and of course our health.

Although recently things have improved in the conventional world of food production and IPM (integrated pest management) is being used. But chemicals are still the easiest solution, they are less work, and they are still used intensively both here in Ireland and abroad. In 2015, the last date there is reliable data for pesticide use in Ireland by crop, 660 Ha of carrots were grown and they received, 2,856 kilogrammes of pesticides, that is 1.73kg per acre, that is quite a lot of chemicals.

Common chemicals that are used in conventional carrot production are shown below and so if we were to list the chemicals on the produce label, it might look something like this:

Chemical Carrots (may contain/grown with: Lambda-cyhalothrin, Linuron, Metribuzin, Azoxystrobin, Difenoconazole, Pendimethalin, Prothioconazole, Boscalid, Pyraclostrobin, Tebuconazole)

Or you can choose organic carrots which would state:

Carrots (may contain: carrots)

I know which one I would choose.

As always thanks for your support. Kenneth

PS check out the little video I made out in our field of kale flowers that are buzzing with bees and insects, it is a haven for biodiversity, it is amazing and beautiful and reminds us that we may be doing something right. This is one of the reasons we do not use chemicals on our food and farm.

where have all the insects gone?

by Kenneth Keavey

The next time you drive down the motorway, check your windscreen, it will be devoid of insect splatter, only 20-30 short years ago that used to be a completely different story. Here is something different to think about when we think about the disappearing insects, of course the insecticides are destroying whole ecosystems, but what about herbicides?

The dandelions are up in force. But consider this, next time you see a field of grass that is generally being grown to be fed to dairy cows, see how many dandelions you see, or in fact see how much of anything other than grass you see. I think you will find that there is very little. Grassland is produced to be a giant monoculture, and it is considered best practice to remove all diversity from these fields, to feed Ireland’s massive dairy industry.

But it didn’t always used to be like this, dairy cows in a not-too-distant past fed on mixed pasture. The irony of course is that a diverse array of plants access different levels of the soil and so bring up different nutrients and give a more balanced diet to the animals, providing a virtual plant salad bar for animals and supported a whole ecosystem, one a ryegrass-dominated monoculture never will.

The diversity today is removed by spraying herbicides, a typical spraying regime for grassland will involve an array of different chemicals. One that is actively used right here in Ireland goes by the tradename “Thurst” and it contains: 2,4-D + Dicamba. You may have heard of herbicides like 2,4-D before, it is one of the most common chemical weedkillers used in conventional farming. It’s designed to kill broadleaf weeds like dandelions without harming the grass. While it works effectively, it comes with a history and environmental impact that we’re not comfortable with.

👉 Did you know? 2,4-D was one of the ingredients in Agent Orange, the defoliant used in the Vietnam War. While modern formulations don’t contain the toxic contaminants that caused so much harm back then, 2,4-D is still a synthetic chemical. It can linger in soil and waterways, and it’s been classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” by the World Health Organization.

This is just one of a handful of chemicals that are used to keep grasslands, green, full of grass, and absent of biodiversity. Giant monocultures whether they be GM soya crops grown in the US or giant fields of grass grown in Ireland are food deserts for insects, there is nothing for them there, no weeds, no flowers, no food. The chemicals themselves that act on the plants are removing a crucial piece of our ecosystem that has a knock-on effect all the way up the food chain. We hear a lot about bees, and bee populations have been devastated over the last 20 years, but the bees are a bell weather for the insect population as a whole. If insects and bees go, well then the omen is not too good for us humans.

But there is hope, farmers more and more are incorporating clover into their grass swards and there is increasing demand for organic food which protects not only our health but biodiversity too. Our food choices matter, keeping chemicals out of our food matters, and they make a huge difference, they send a powerful message and can effect real change.

As always thank you for supporting our farm and business.

Kenneth

p.s We would ask you to support us over Easter week if you can. Thank you to everybody who did this week it made a real difference. And we hope if you ordered bread that you enjoyed the amazing Carraig Rua breads that we will have every week from now on!

After many weeks of planning, we are finally ready to start

by Kenneth Keavey

Rumi said, “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears” Clarity doesn’t come before action, it comes from action. After many weeks of planning, we are finally ready to start.

This business that we find ourselves in, seems to always be grinding away at one’s soul, it is hard.

Growing vegetables commercially is hard, growing vegetables without chemicals is harder, and selling produce as a small business might even be harder still. But at other times like the week just gone when the sun shines and the birds sing and the bees finally wake up from their winter slumber, it gives back.

Sometimes it is hard to get perspective especially when you are in the thick of things and we all make mistakes. Anyway, amidst the usual weekly turmoil something stuck me, you can’t do it on your own, life, business, relationships, you need help and support.

I am grateful for the team of individuals (and this includes you our customers) that have chosen to pitch in with us, without them it would be a very different affair, but because of them and their dedication we have an amazing, vibrant, sustainable business.

Collaboration is key, it has always been something we have stuck by, and I am not saying I or we are perfect, far from it, and there is plenty of times when stress or general goings on means we miss the boat, we say or do things which would have been better not said or not done. But fair collaboration is what in an ideal world we strive for, whether that be with our customers or suppliers or anybody who touches on our business, collaboration I’d go so far as to say it is the only way.

During the past number of months, I have had the fortunate experience to begin a conversation with Liam Gavin from Drumanilra farm, he also runs Carraig Rua bakery. The aim of our conversations was to get the best most amazing, sustainable, organic, slow fermented over 48 hours bread to you, our customers. There has been much back and forth and trials and finally we have arrived at a place where we are happy and are ready to start.

It is something I have wanted to do for years, but getting fresh bread to you our customers in our business is difficult, but we think we have cracked the art of getting bakery fresh bread delivered to your home. The bread is par-baked and 15 minutes in your oven will finish the bread and give you the most amazing experience of fresh bread right in your own home.

There are all the other amazing bits, it is baked by an expert baker Michael, in Carrick on Shannon, by Liam’s ethical organic business, and it uses only certified organic flour. It has, as bread should have only 4 ingredients and critically the wheat has obviously been grown without pesticides or herbicides and especially without glyphosate.

Our aim has always been to partner and support other small amazing Irish organic farms and businesses, and I think with Carraig Rua we have definitely done that.

As always thanks for your support and joining us in creating a new better sustainable food system.

Kenneth

loving the fine weather, what an amazing start to the season

by Kenneth Keavey

The fine weather is a welcome blessing, and we are getting loads done of the farm, including, planting lettuce, spinach, rocket and beetroot. We have all our fields ready for planting now and have been working really hard to make the best use of the sunshine.

The downside of both the good weather and Easter is we will see a large drop off on orders, this affects us very much as nothing much changes for us from the cost side. So, if you can at all especially as we head into Easter, don’t forget about your sustainable food 😊 place an order if you can as it makes a massive difference to our small sustainable organic farm and business.

Monsanto spent millions on deceptive communications strategies to convince the public that the world’s most widely used herbicide, Roundup, is “as safe as table salt.” Yet its main ingredient, glyphosate, was flagged as having the potential to cause cancer as far back as 1984 by a scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

We deserve to know what is on our food. I don’t care that limits are set that are supposed to protect us, these are called MRLs (maximum residue limits). Bear in mind that these limits as with Glyphosate can change over time to allow for more of a chemical to be applied.

In 1990, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had established the maximum residue limit (MRL), or tolerance, for glyphosate residues in or on soybeans at 6 parts per million (ppm). During the late 1990s, Monsanto lobbied to raise permitted glyphosate levels in soybeans, successfully convincing both the U.S. and UK governments to increase the MRL to 20 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), equivalent to 20 ppm. So 6mg/kg was the safe limit we could not exceed in the early 90s, but as the application of the chemical increased the limit was increased nearly 4-fold, and this new level was now the “safe” limit. Of course, this increased limit meant more of the chemical could be sprayed on the crops.

Glyphosate has increased exponentially since the early 90s and it is toxic, does damage our microbiome, and facilitates the production of masses of ultra processed food. The incidence of which would also have rocketed from the 1990s onwards.

But if nothing else, spraying a chemical that kills everything in its path, destroys biodiversity, damages our microbiome, and facilitates large corporations to make billions, whilst contributing to disease in the world, surely that must stop?

As always thanks for your support.

Kenneth

A note from Kenneth

by Kenneth Keavey

Supermarkets won’t miss you, but we will! Our orders always drop off over Easter and school holidays, but we still have the same costs to bear for running the farm and the business. Your order means a lot to us and makes all the difference. It allows us to keep doing what we are doing and developing a more sustainable food network and farming approach to food in Ireland.

Please if you can at all support us over the next three weeks through the Easter break. To help you on this journey we have some very special and gorgeous hand-made organic chocolate to give away for free when you purchase and spend over €80. You will receive an email this Sunday 6th April with details of the offer.

Easter is without a doubt the biggest and most consistent downturn we see in the business each year and we need to do whatever we can to ensure we do try to mitigate it.

Thank you from all of us here at Green Earth Organics.

The hidden cost of our food

We are lucky living in Europe we have some of the best laws protecting our lands and our food from pesticide contamination. But it’s worth bearing in mind a couple of things, even though these laws are stronger than in many parts of the planet, chemicals and pesticides are still used regularly on our fresh food and veg. A report by the dept of Agriculture right here in Ireland showed that over 64% of 500 fruit samples tested in 2021 had pesticide residues in them.

But the thing that really gets me is the hidden contribution our food choices here in Ireland make to pesticide use all around the world. Just this March the environmental protection agency in Brazil banned the use of thiamethoxam, this is a pesticide of the class of neonicotinoid, and 1 teaspoon of this insidious chemical can kill over 1 billion bees. The bees are the sentinels, and if the bees are dying so are all the other insects. The companies that manufacture this, denied for years, that it was dangerous to pollinators, but they knew.

This chemical continues to be manufactured right here in the EU and shipped to other countries, making billions, knowing that these chemicals are wrecking destruction on our natural environment. Making profit is the only driver when it comes to large food companies and large Agri companies. Our health and the health of the planet are always secondary to the bottom line.

But an often-overlooked fact, the feed fed to Chickens, cows, and pigs that are processed for meat right here in this country will be partly fed on soya grown in Brazil. 100,000s of tonnes of GMO (Genetically modified) soya-based feed is imported into Ireland every year. (Read more here) Our massive agricultural industry is fed on a diet of Roundup drenched, neonicotinoid-soaked soya pellets that feed the animals.

If you would like to know more, please have a look at this video

This feed of course is also coming from massive monocultural food deserts that have been created by the relentless destruction of the most diverse and amazing part of our planet: the Amazon rainforest. This also contributes to the most defining catastrophe of our age: the climate crisis.

It’s estimated that over 20 million hectares of Brazil’s forest cover as a whole have been lost to soy production in the last three decades.  Irish supermarkets have not ruled out using controversially sourced soy that is linked to activity driving forest loss in South America, including the Amazon.

But when it comes to our food we as consumers have power, real power and our decisions and choices can have a massive impact, and can send a real message and can effect real change.

Choosing organic will prohibit the use of these bee harming chemicals and it will also ensure we are not consuming GMOs.

As always thank you for your support.

Kenneth