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Tuesday
30th September 2003
Organics - a wake Commerorating the imminent death of the
organic movement - if GM crops and food are introduced - a UK organic
worker, Jonny Barton, is to tow a coffin behind his bike 700 miles to
London to coincide with the rallyTractors and Trolleys on 13th October
(see below, GM in Ireland). Today's The Scotsman GM protester
with a grave message. www.thescotsman.co.uk/scotland.cfm?id=1077352003
Organics
Awake! I say it again. Take action against GM food and crops or be a
mourner at the graveside of organics. I could predict the labels on
"organic" products in a few years' time if GM crops are widely
introduced in Europe. "Our organic products contain only 10% of GM
contamination" - then later " ...only 50%" and later.....
there will be no longer any reason to say "organic" - it will
simply be meaningless! And if we change our minds at some time in
the future and try to get the amorphous GM genie back in the bottle, we
will have an impossible task. The intrepid Jonny Barton above puts it
well: " I am really concerned the
government will allow it (GM) in, and two years down the line they will
discover they cannot get it out and it will require some mega-million
pound solution to sort out the problem. Prevention is better than cure.
Most people in Britain would join me in urging the government to back off
from commercialising GM crops and food. The government should safeguard
the environment and protect people’s right to choose safe food."
So, on yer bike, and do something really worthwhile.
Naked Chef serves up princely organic feast Celeb chef, Jamie
Oliver, prepared the food at Clarence House, London last week for Prince
Charles and guests. The occassion was to mark the growth in organic
farmining in Britain. The ingredients for the feast came from the Prince's
highly successful organic estate at Highgrove, Glos. and was served up by
the student staff from Oliver's London restaurant, Fifteen.
Real Food? Someone please have a look - I'm a little busy at
present - at this site, www.realproduce.co.uk/
which purports to promote "real food" producers and restaurants
throughout the UK. A review might be interesting.
Genetically Manipulated Ireland The deafening silence in Ireland on
GM affairs is about to be broken, I am now reliably informed. A new Irish
anti-GM website "should" go live on 1st October. Prepare to click
www.gmfreeireland.org on
Wednesday. Let's wait and see.
In the meantime, I'm waiting to hear about support for the idea of an
Irish contingent to the London anti-GM rally on the 13th October. Some
have been asking me for more information on the Irish GM scene - I'm not
up to speed myself. For example, to the question - from an
eager-to-get-involved inquirer - "Are GM crops grown in Ireland
at present", I cannot give a detailed answer. Can you?
Google, unusually, too is not helpful. Perhaps this new website will
answer all these questions.
Device
for verifying whether produce is organic or not This is not science
fiction apparently. The UK Food Safety Agency is funding the development
of analytical techniques to differentiate between organic and conventional
meat and vegetables. It is also inviting research proposals into the
advantages of organic food. Contact Andrew Stephenson at the FSA; labelling@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk.
And read the consultation papers at http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/organicresearch.pdf
Potato powered computers One of my roving correspondents in
the US "Gracie" (lately from Clonmel) has stopped roving, met a wonderful woman called Love,
and, against the employment grain in that part of the world, California,
secured a (secure!) job in IT - this at a time when IT PhD grads are panhandling
(begging) on the sidewalks (footpaths). He still finds time however
to keep me informed about such devastatingly interesting things to us here
as the Californian gobernatorial election - some action movie star,
Arnie-somerhing-or-other is high
in the ratings it seems - and today, the Potato Powered Computer. Its
serious! Although, on close examination I don't see myself abandoning
solar for spuds just yet. But do have a look - ingenious stuff. http://d116.com/spud/
Quotes of the week "(Car Free Day)
...is an annual exercise in environmental piety." The ascerbic Liam
Fay in Sunday Times 21st September 2003. www.sunday-times.co.uk
Wednesday 24th September 2003
A continuing welcome to visitors from Country
Smallholding magazine following my article in the September issue on the
Irish organic scene; also to dozens of new visitors following contacts made
during my sojourn in Dublin last week.
Free the Bin Tax Two - see item below, Socialist binned
etc. It looks like we might have to change our clarion cry to "Free
the Bin Tax Twelve" if others arrested yesterday get stuck in the
'Joy. And next week, Free The Bin Tax Hundreds" etc? The Bould
O'Donoghue - minister-for-something-or-other, to borrow Vincent Browne's
parlance - from the whiter-than-white Fianna Fáil party, is calling the
pot black, left right and centre, "Trotskyites" and
"Pinkos" etc. Rabbitte calls O'D " a buffoon". See www.socialistparty.net/bintax/index.htm
The jailed TD Joe Higgins is the only TD, that I know of, to have spoken
at an anti-GM/pro organic conference - Skibbereen, Growing Awareness,
in 2001. To thunderous applause, he opened his hard-hitting speech
by lambasting the county councillors and corpo-representaives who signed
in to the conference, claiming public expenses of course, but had
dissolved over the weekend into other non-conference activities, such as
golf, boozing, sight-seeing and trysts of one sort or another. My own
home-town representatives from Clonmel Corporation were among these
latter.
GM in Ireland Is it that I have not got my ear close
enough to the ground, or is it simply that there is in fact no effective
anti-GM movement in Ireland? Remember Genetic Concern - headed up by
Quentin Gargan (Wholefoods Wholesale Ltd. Dublin) and his partner Claire
Watson? GC did trojan stuff in its day, to which I gave some little
support, but is now defunct. Our good friends Monsanto, took GC or, I
should say, Claire as the main defendant, to court, and although the judge
awarded but nominal damages to the multinational, legal costs of about
€700,000 were given against the feisty Ms Watson. On her own, she was
unable to pay this massive sum and it's interesting that the corporation
whose main activity, apart from developing GM crops, is making the world's
most popular weedkiller, Roundup, has not pursued the payment of the debt.
It seems that it was happy enough that it had silenced the biggest thorn
in its side in Ireland, Genetic Concern.
Claire and Quentin are farming
now here in southwest Cork and neither seems to have much of a public
profile any longer. Although I did hear that Quentin had a letter in the
Southern Star recently about market trading in Skibberreen. Another
connecting snippet, is that Claire's sister, Caroline Robinson, famous for
her vegetable stall at Cork venues - see Where to Buy page - is to stand
as a Green Party candidate in the forthcoming local elections.
So, who's to
carry the anti-GM flag in Ireland? The organic certifying organisations?
Unlikely - there seems to be a proccupation there, with most anyway, with
minding their P & Qs vis a vis the gov. and panting for the next
hand-out from state coffers or invitation to participate in yet again
another gov. committee. Not to mention the drive to recruit new members -
at seemably any cost in some cases.
Would the IFA, or the ICMSA be candidates? Not even remotely likely, given
that they seem to be well in the pockets of Big Agri and couldn't in any
case see beyond their next premia payments or the National Ploughing
Championships (now on at Kinnegad Co. Meath).
It seems that we are
now lolling away, as ignorant of GM issues as the average US citizen (see www.ens-newswire.com
19th September), and
will take whatever decision our betters in gov. and in the EU make on our
behalf. And it is practically guaranteed that without a massive and
vigorous public protest the big players in Europe will bow to American
pressure to end the 5-year moratorium on GM crops, and that will be the
end of organics as we know it.
However as we wallow in complacency, our neighbours across the Irish Sea
are planning an interesting domonstration.
The Tractors and Trolleys parade is what the new all-farmers
organisation, Farm (www.farm.org.uk)
is
calling their demonstration in London on 13 October. Led by tractors and
accompanied by hundreds of trolleys filled with GM-free produce they will
call to the National Farmers Union HQ, 10 Downing Street and DEFRA and
finally gather in a mass rally in central London. All to coincide with the
re-opening of parliament and the crucial end game of the GM public debate.
For further details see www.tractorandtrolley.com
and www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/real_food/press_for_change/tractor_and_trolley/index.html
Anyone interested in organising an Irish contingent to join our
British brothers in this protest that involves all of us - conventional
and organic producers - can rely on my support, and attendance, and
then maybe later we can get something together here too.
Monday 22nd September 2003
Concern for others The Irish charity, Concern, has launched a
special appeal to help 17 million people threatened with hunger in
Ethiopia, Eritrea and southern Sudan. As little as €40 could feed 8
malnourished children for a month, they say. Come on, you nice people who
read my site, dig deep into those organic cotton pockets and give a few
bob to help our deprived brothers in Africa. Let's continue to cock a
snoot at our political obermeisters, who disgrace us internationally at
Cancun, Johannesberg etc, and show them our high sense of international
charity and justice. E-contacts; info@concern.net
and www.concern.net
Mock concern for the environment Today is Car-Free Day in
Ireland and across Europe. Liam Fay, in the Sunday Times yesterday, gives
it all an appropriate lashing.
A recent survey shows Ireland as the greatest per capita gas guzzler in
the world and it is highly unlikely that today's "amusements"
(bouncing castles etc, for chrissakes!), in scattered venues, will have
the slightest effect in reducing our dependency on the black stuff - the
undrinkable kind that is.
I am having (says he, with a sniff of enviro-smugness) a Car Free Year!
The Claude Butler - cheap ex-hire bike from Krugers in Bantry with rotting
tyres and tubes - has been restored and now is the most comfortable and
reliable bike I've ever had. It's become, what the aficionadas call, a
hybrid - a tourer crossed with mountain bike but with elements of obvious
home-build. The strong alloy handlebars, for example, are from my first
mountain bike, imported (they were unavailable in Ireland at the time)
over 20 years ago. and the carrier - in the face of the impossibility of
getting a decent one in the shops - has some amateurish, strenghtening
welds added.
To winter-evening enable me, I'm fitting it with diode and halogen lights
arriving soon, courtesy of my li'l brother in Penzance.
On the subject of charity, could anyone out there donate a bicycle
trailer? Not, thank you very much, a Mickey Mouse thing like the plastic
yoke I saw in Dublin last week, but one capable of carrying my 100lb
outboard, gas cylinder and the odd hitch hiker - separately of course. I'm
getting fit at the cycling again, but not that fit!!
Failing your generosity, I will have to build the darn thing myself. And
world news will have to wait.
Socialist
binned for bin protest The ever-active (commendably on behalf of
his constituents) and anti-globalisation (and pro-organic) Irish socialist TD Joe Higgins
and his colleague Councillor Clare Daly have been thrown into Ireland' s
notorious Mountjoy prison for a month for defying a court injunction
banning their protests against charges for collecting household waste.
The story dominated the Irish media over the weekend, with many front page
pictures of the activist politicans being marched off to their
incarceration.
For a different, if more partisan take, see, www.socialistparty.net/bintax/index.htm
Blockade Day 11.
As the shocked Joe was led away to prison on Friday last, he raised the
cry that it was ironic that fighters for taxation justice should be given
the full penal rigour of the law when
not a single millionaire Irish tax dodger - the Ansbacher account holders
who have been found cheating the tax man of a small fortune by hiding
money in offshore bank accounts - have seen the inside of a prison cell.
Posters seen in Dublin on Saturday proclaim: "Release the Bin Tax
Two". i ould suggest: Free the Fingal Few.
A protest meeting will be held this evening outside the prison.
My opinion? It's all about double taxation - rates back by stealth. Rates
were abolished and an increase in VAT given to allow central Gov. to carry
the can. Now that they can't afford it anymore, they are allowing local
authorities to slap them on again. I applaud the radical protests and hope
they will now go nationwide and involve the large labour
unions.
Cancun cannot deliver For an expert report on Cancún and its
ramifications, see George Monbiot's article, published in The
Guardian last week. Couldn't locate it on the Guardian Online but it's
easy to find on http://monbiot.com The
Philosophy of Cant - "Europe wrecked the world trade talks but it
may accidentally have forced the poor countries to assert its
power."
Country
Smallholding The October issue is now out and although there is
a preponderance of articles and advertisements on chicken and alpaca
stuff, there are some interesting contributions on the history of sheep,
vegetable box schemes and conserving autumn fruits and vegetables.I'm
taking particular note of the latter for chutneys and jams.
Hurling Amazons Yesterday's All-Ireland Camogie (women's hurling -
one of Ireland's great national games, recently described as "The
fastest field game in the world") Final was a wonderful spectacle of
athleticism, consummate skill and fighting spirit as Tipperary (my home
county) beat Cork (my domicile county) 2-11 to 1-11. Better to watch than
the men's final last weekend between Kilkenny and Cork (Cork beaten then
too), and sexier too!
International visitors to Planorganic can find out more about this great
sport on www.gaa.ie or, of course, search
for "Hurling Ireland" in www.google.com
Trust Joe I believe our good friend, Josef Finke, self-styled
father of the Irish organic movement and founder of the Organic Trust, was
featured recently in a magazine article. If any of you have a handle on
this, please let me know. It's always so interesting to hear what Joe is
up to and has in store for us. Herr Finke is no mean hand at publicity
garnering and image burnishing, having been a professional at that in
Germany before coming to Ireland to bring us all the organic light.
Quote of the week "Anyone who
looks into it (the WTO and Cancún) objectively cannot but be shocked at
the way the rules are rigged." Mary Robinson, former Irish prsident,
lately UN Human Rights Commissioner and now at Oxfam.
Tuesday
16th September 2003
Cancún has come and gone Badly
reported in the Irish media, I felt. In fact, utterly unbalanced in favour
of EU/American/Rich World interests. Irish television and radio was a
particular disgrace. Normally, they do a good job - at times indeed
excellent - but on this one, they were diabolical! Who the
f.... are they getting their hymn sheet from? All protesters are baddies
and their behaviour is just thuggery, whilst the goodies - including Min
Joe and minions - are trying to sort out the problems of the Developing
World!
That was the general tenor of what I heard and saw. "(the
demonstrators) .. causing more hardship for the people in developing
countries" - RTE Radio 1, 5-7 Live Friday last, George Lee.
"....its (the Cancún talks) efforts to promote the interests of
developing countries"!! And such like
Reflect - the rich world gives € 200 billion in subsidies to its food
producers. Their surplusses are then dumped on the poorer countries
destroying their indigenous agriculture. That's what the Korean farm
leader, Lee Kyung-Hae, who killed himself in Cancún, was making that
terrible gesture about.
The talks haven't so much failed as been thrown into disarray by the
emergence of a new power block, G21, comprising now, 21+ members, main
players being Brazil, China, India, South Africa, Egypt and Argentina. All in
all, G21 represents two thirds of the world's farmers! They are now
flexing their muscles, and not even the concentrated pressure and threats
(some delegates were said to have been threatened with aid withdrawal if
they joined G21) from the Western powers could bring them to heel. There
is a different dog barking now, and if the West wants to sell its services
as well as its goods to the Third World it will have to give up much more
of its farm and food subsidies than even Herr Fischler gave away in his
recent reform of the CAP.
Ireland's only interest, disgracefully, at Cancún was to make sure that as
few subsidies as possible are taken away from Irish agriculture. It is
they, and the rest with similar narrow motives, that caused the collapse
of the talks. The biggest barrier to fairer world trade is that huge €
200,000 million that we give our farmers in this wealth-privileged part of
the world.
I could say a lot more but I have much else to do these times, and this is
not the day-job.
There won't be another update until next weekend.
Thursday September 11th
2003
Celebrating the humble spud
Don't forget The Festival of Potatoes and Open Day at the
Organic College, Dromcollogher, Co.Limerick this Saturday.
Contact Jim McNamara at 063 83604 for further details. www.organiccollege.com
There will be much of interest there, as usual; talks on the little-known,
300-year Palatine legacy of agricultural innovation and self-suffiency in
Ireland, for example; walks around the farm, gardens and museums, and the
incredibly delicious organic barbecue in the evening. Stay the night, so's
you can enjoy Drom's particularly social pub-scene.
Grace Maher, a lecturer at the Organic College, is off for 6 months to
India to study under that indefatigable foe of the GM Giants and
industrial agriculture, Dr Vandana Shiva. Look forward to debriefing her
when she gets back.
Graces' job, 10 hours per week teaching sustainable agriculture and
organics, is currently advertised by Co. Limerick VEC. If interested,
contact 061 42692.
Permanent
Change A great value and interest-promising weekend can be had in
Belfast this coming weekend. A 20-hour intensive weekend course on
permaculture is to be had for just £95 (£75 unwaged) including
accomodation and all meals which will be organic and vegetarian!
Contact Phillip Allen immediately on 02890 716200 (from Republic; 00 44
2890 716200.
Watery organic standards? I received the
following in an email this week;
"The Organic Trust is attempting to forge ahead with somewhat
watered-down standards that don't even include the notion of recommended
practice or best practice. And I'm told the Trust is doing this
unilaterally."
What's going on here? I don't have the resources to investigate this
right now. If you have further information, would you please let me
know?
Horses for
courses Regular readers of this page would be excused for
thinking that I have a problem with the horse industry in Ireland.
Not quite so; let me clarify. My problem is only with the racing,
bloodstock end of the business - for the reasons oft-expressed here.
See Archived Weekly News
Other aspects of the industry I support; for example, show-jumping,
eventing, showing classes, even hunting (but non-killing, drag-hunts
only!) and the various breeding societies, Irish Draught, Connemara
etc.
I practically grew up on horseback. Ever heard of the Kiltinan* breed of
Arab/Connemara ponies? They were bred by the wonderful Quaker lady, Joan
de Salles La Terriere (nee Joan Grubb of Castlegrace, Co.Tipperary, widow
of WW I casualty, Capt. O'Callaghan. La Terriere was her second husband -
and thereby hangs a tale of romance, wealth, disgrace, tragedy and
pauper-eccentricity, somewhat covered in my booklet Sheela na gig).
I had the great good fortune to live nearby (our family farm was once part
ofthe Kiltinan estate. It was bought by my grand uncle, William Walsh, in
1912, from the Cookes - from 17C Cromwellians - of Kiltinan Castle)
and have these wonderful creatures to ride when I was a kid. I used
to hunt with the practically wild Arab stallions - a one-eyed, fearless,
strawberry roan called All Springs, and a feisty, smaller chestnut,
Kingfisher.
These Kiltinan ponies today are some of the most sought-after childrens'
mounts in the world. Mrs La Terriere was not only a neighbour but a close
friend of the family. My father, Stephen, rode in the Dublin Horse Show
for the La Terriere's in their heyday in the 1930s and was close to
their only son, Rory, who was killed in the RAF during WW II.
I'm not sure if you'll come across any examples of the Kiltinan horses at Punchestown
weekend after next, but you will see much of the hugely challenging sport of
three-day-eventing at the internationally-famous venue, near Naas, Co.
Kildare. The super elite sport of long-distance riding will also be
featured.
On another tack, one of the biggest Ferris wheels in Europe will also be
there, with other fun-fair geegaws, to cater for the children not quite so
interested in the horsey scene.
From our point of view, there are going to be hundreds of foodie stalls,
many of them organic, slow food or craft food producers to entertain, and
to educate about the better end of our food industry.
News in my next update tomorrow on another big venue coming up for organic
and health food products in Ireland.
*Kiltinan Castle today is home to Andrew Lloyd Webber and his wife. They
are deeply involved in my despised world of purebred racing horses.
And Kiltinan is closed, barred - once more! - to the peasant. See
the panegyric poem by James Maher, in Romantic Slevenamon (only
from library - long out-of-print I'll put averse or two on my About page).
He describes Kiltinan in the 1940s and '50's when it was an extremely open
and local-friendly place. He had, I've just recently heard, a crush on Mrs
La (as we fondly called her. No disrespect to her memory - she died in the
1960s - but we also had a cow called after her. A farm worker, Austy, once
almost caused my father to asphyxiate over his breakfast when he excitedly
announced, "Stevie, Stevie, Mrs La has calved").
Tuesday 9th September
2003 Changes on several pages and a few
corrections below. See About/Contact page - prize for identifying changes
there!
Sender of comfrey info - to "Rev. James O'Connor etc", please identify yourself. Go on! Go on, go on, go
on..............
Get Country Smallholder, Sept., for my 3,500 word essay on the
Irish organic scene. It is more widely available this month in
Ireland - even saw it for the first time in the small, Donegan's, Spar
shop in Castletownbere.
They keep a close eye on me down here.
Farmers' Markets I am an unapologetic enthusiast for farmers'
markets, and having seen some great ones in the UK and Europe and read
about the US ones, I am delighted to see the movement growing apace in
Ireland. Every week I hear about new ones, albeit some being very small
and irregular, and am delighted to list them on the Where to Buy page. Let
me know of any that I am missing.
Fair Days in Castletownbere and Bantry - first Thursdays and Fridays of
the month, respectively - are increasingly attracting "foodie"
and organic produce stalls. And the beauty of these markets, and Kenmare
on every Wednesday and Friday, is that they are still free to
stallholders.
For details of farmers' markets in the Dublin area, booking stalls etc,
contact Sean McArdle at 087 6115016.
I have seen the most wonderful markets throughout Europe in recent years.The best,
in my opinion, was a Saturday market in south-east France, in Die, Vallé de La Drome,
Haute Provence.
Beautiful siting in the mediaeval town square, great people, and the produce of
the region is painfully wonderful (well, you can only bring tiny bits back with
you when you're Ryanairing about). Drome is home too to the stunning organic
"champagne", Clairette de Die. It really is to Die for! (sorry,
irrestible). It's listed with other local organic
wines on www.jaillance.com
The Viktualienmarkt in Munich, with many permanent stalls, is also a great
pleasure in a beautiful city. I revisited Munchen in November 2001 - after 30
years. What a lively, liberal, cultured place and so safe - compared to
Dublin or Cork. And organic produce and specialised shops and bakeries are
everywhere in the city and throughout Bavaria. The finest fresh fruit and
vegetable stand (permanent) that I saw was in the Viktualienmarkt.
Seductive, luscious displays, with tasting slices and variety information.
All served up by comely madchens. A male presence, the Geschaftfuhrer,
was wearing a tall conical,
red-felt hat! But it all had a sting in the tail. A little research
(mostly with some Demeter people in a nearby stand) turned up the
disturbing fact that it was all a come-on for a Scientology-like, religious, organic cult,
Lebe Gesund! (apologies to my German visitors for not using the umlaut - can't
find it on my keyboard).
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