'THE FUTURE IS FOOD' - The TASTE Council goes live in County Wicklow

Handsome is as handsome does, and there is no doubting that the TASTE Council lived up to its name (and then some) at the first National Food Symposium - or Summer School - on ‘the current and future contribution of the artisan and speciality food sector to the Irish economy’.

Although it was formally established in 2003, many people have not heard of the TASTE Council before now because – although working very effectively in the background – they have been hiding their collective light under a bushel until this first major event in August, which was held at The BrookLodge Hotel, Co Wicklow, and hosted in association with Bord Bia.

The TASTE Council is a voluntary representative group of the smaller food business sector made up largely of local, artisan and speciality food producers; its (fortuitously apt) name is an acronym of ‘Traditional Artisan and Speciality Trade Expertise in Food’ and its mission is “To empower and enable the Irish speciality food sector at a strategic level to maximise its current and potential contribution to Ireland’s food and agri economy, society, culture and environment.” In practical terms this has already resulted in powerful submissions to, for example, the 2015 Agri Food Committee and, more recently, Agri Vision 2020.

Currently under the chairmanship of Evan Doyle (long time champion of wild, organic and artisan foods, and co-owner of BrookLodge Hotel), esteemed members who give up their time voluntarily to work on the Council include Kevin Sheridan of Sheridans Cheesemongers (Vice Chairman), and a representative collection of the country’s top artisans, chefs, food writers and restaurateurs, such as tireless campaigners Peter Ward of Country Choice in Nenagh and Darina Allen of Ballymaloe Cookery School; Euro-Toques chef Ross Lewis of Chapter One and restaurateur & food writer Domini Kemp; Burren Smokehouse producer Birgitta Hedin-Curtin; GIY founder Michael Kelly, and many more very successful, busy people - who are all committed to furthering the interests of quality food producers in Ireland and, by extension, Irish rural life and the economy.

The sub-title of the Taste Council’s Agri Vision 2020 submission - “1,000 local, artisan, speciality food firms + €1.65 billion in their local output at consumer prices = €4.1 billion in circulation in the local economy +7,500 more jobs by 2020” - sums up the importance of the document very simply, and this was the message underpinning the subjects chosen for last month’s National Food Symposium.

The three sessions were very different - ranging from Realising the Potential of the Traditional Irish Farm, to The Artisan and the Education System, and The Artisan and Brand Ireland – but a common theme was the growing importance of food in the economy; one speaker noted that agriculture currently produces a euro for every 72 cent in the wider economy, and the ‘multiplier effect’ of buying local food and re-spending money within the community was frequently mentioned.

The first session, chaired by Kevin Sheridan (vice chairman of the Taste Council), was themed Authentic Food Culture: Realising the Potanetial of the Traditional Family Farm. Dr Aine Macken Walsh of Teagasc delivered a superb presentation on the so-called ‘Middle Agriculture’ Model, which promises a bright future for the many small-to-medium sized traditional farms that are currently categorised as economically unviable.

Squeezed between the small speciality food producer on the one hand and much larger intensive commodity enterprises on the other, they have been largely overlooked, yet they are the heart of rural Ireland and not only produce high quality (but unbranded) food but also maintain the character of our beautiful landscape, diverse environment and farm family life.

Encouragingly, The Middle Agriculture model offers an alternative route to viability, in which the produce of these traditional farms is properly valued ‘by capitalising on their environmental, social and cultural distinctiveness’.

A panel of six experts and speakers from an invited audience of about 150 discussed issues involved. Following a question from organic expert and journalist Dr Ollie Moore, perhaps the most interesting comment came from Kerry Lamb Group’s Denis Carroll, who said the secret of his group’s new-found commercial success is that they now call the shots on setting the price of their own product because they have succeeded in reversing the established system and get quotes for their animals from several processing factories, rather than being at the mercy of one price setter. Similarly Mark Wintherbotham, of the Organic Trust, referred to his organisation as being in a healthy position of being ‘price setters not price takers’.

Talk of this ‘Middle Agriculture’ reminded me of comments made by Myrtle Allen when we were visiting Ballymaloe House some forty years ago, in which this very down to earth advocate of the flavour and freshness that is only to be found in local foods made her support of traditional Irish food production and mixed family farms very clear.

Darina Allen chaired the second session, on The Artisan and the Education System, in her usual lively and informative way. It was to have included a presentation by the iconic American chef, restaurateur, teacher and vice-president of Slow Food International, Alice Waters - who is especially famous for her promotion of school gardens – but, although this was not to be, the Secretary General of Euro-Toques Ireland, Ruth Hegarty, stepped into the breach very ably and delivered an excellent presentation with an emphasis on the Euro-Toques policy of teaching an enjoyment of food and sense of balance rather than ‘nutrition’.

Agreeing about the importance and opportunities offered by food and farming, and the need to educate future consumers on sustainability and to purchase wisely, panel and audience members talked about projects ranging from the successful ‘Food Dudes’ initiative in schools, to a currrent Taste Council project overseen by Domini Kemp and planned for transition year students in 2012.

GIY founder Michael Kelly referred to growing our own food as the ‘silver bullet’ that could solve many of our food and health problems, and Hans Wieland, veteran organic farmer and lecturer at The Organic Centre in Co Leitrim, spoke of the need for young people to have a lively, relevant interest in food in their everyday lives ‘so that they would discuss it in the same way as they talk about footballers and their teams today’.

There was also some discussion on third level food education: the worrying shortage of chefs, inadequate practical courses, and problems within current professional courses (that are resulting in graduates with plenty of theory but poor practical skills) all came under discussion, but it was essentially the transition year projects that seemed to offer most hope of immediate progress.

The main afternoon session, The Artisan and Brand Ireland, was chaired by food writer and long time champion of small producers, John McKenna, with a presentation by Una Fitzgibbon of Bord Bia, who talked about the Brand Ireland initiative, Food Harvest 2020 and ‘provenance, premiumisation and employment’.

She emphasised ‘the importance of a story and sense of place’, and talked about the 2010 Harvard Business School report, of which key elements are incorporated into Food Harvest 2020/Pathways for Growth - notably the great opportunities that exist for food production in Ireland and the need for an Irish food brand, also the need to agree on a ‘Come See Us’ policy which would be based on developing a world class agricultural industry so we could make the claim ‘we are natural and we can prove it’.

This session, with its emphasis on ‘green branding’, generated robust audience participation, with questions from the audience such as ‘Do we tell the world that our cattle are given GM feed?’ and ‘What about the potentially damaging effect of incinerators to the farming environment?’ addressed to a panel which included Margaret Jeffares of Good Food Ireland, John Mulcahy of Failte Ireland - and branding and marketing consultant Noel Toolan, who was the main respondent. Unlike the previous sessions, there was a sense of disquiet among the audience, many of whom clearly felt that some of the serious issues raised had not been adequately addressed.

Following this, the chairpersons of all the previous sessions became a new panel under the chairmanship of Bord Bia CEO, Aidan Cotter, to discuss Where the Artisan is Now, in summary of the event. And – finally – Mr Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, arrived late in true ministerial style, but then won us all over by presenting a very positive and encouraging closing address that put everyone in a positive mood again in time for dinner.

And what a dinner. The best was definitely still to come, with ‘The Wicklow Street Stall Producers Dinner’ presenting a magnificent collection of very local products cooked by the BrookLodge team and served by the producers themselves to guests who sat at tables in a long open-sided marquee warmed by big braziers full of blazing logs (and a few less romantic but very efficient blast heaters)...

Evan Doyle and his trusty band of helpers had worked tirelessly to set everything up for the event and make sure it all ran smoothly – and impressive it certainly was, with starters ranging from smoked shellfish from Stephen Kavanagh of Fish Out of Water in Arklow, to the hotel’s own delicious wild Macreddin Wood mushrooms, brioche and pasta, to main courses including Wicklow lamb from nearby Gold River Farm (who had served spit roasted free range pork in big baps at lunch time – tricky to eat, but so very, very good), rabbit and wood pigeon from Wild Irish Game, and wild salmon (the first in the BrookLodge kitchens since 2003); to desserts including a ‘first pick’ apple and wild berry crumble from the orchard and hedgerows, and Wicklow cheeses.

Speciality drinks included the house beer and David Llewellyn wines – which are from from north Dublin, but he also grows the lustrous vines in BrookLodge’s Orchard Café. All this plus many, many more examples of Wicklow’s finest food and drink, and a rousing speech by Myrtle Allen, the woman who started it all single-handed in the 1960s, made it truly a night to remember...

[An official follow-up report on the TASTE Council Summer School will be issued in due course.]