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• Beyond Corrigan and Bord Bia

  May 9, 2009 @ 12:11 am | by Tom

  Following Richard Corrigan’s call for a review of its role in promoting Irish food in the home market, I see that Bord Bia has said that no product carrying its Quality Assured symbol has ever been produced outside of the island of Ireland. This is good news but it doesn’t detract from Corrigan’s point that non-Irish produce could carry the symbol.

  However, what I find compelling about this great chef’s argument concerns the standards that Bord Bia’s QA scheme endorses. Having scanned the details, it strikes me that they are, at best, marginally above the EU minimum. Which doesn’t, frankly, do a lot to put Irish food the the forefront of quality.

  Much of what Corrigan has to say about Irish food standards was lost today. I was at the press conference and heard a lot of things that give me cause for concern. For example, as many EU countries move away from GM produce and meat that is fed GM feed, Ireland seems determined to embrace the GM ideology. This means that Irish meat is competing, in the EU, in a declining market. Non-GM feed is very expensive in Ireland because the animal feed industry is not prepared to invest in the plant that is required to keep GM and non-GM products completely separate at the point of import.

  This is quite bafflingly shortsighted. I don’t blame the animal feed industry but the Government which appears to have no vision whatsoever for the future of Irish food. As Richard Corrigan said today, Ireland is blithely sailing in one direction on this issue while the rest of Europe heads off in the opposite one.

  Presumably, Bord Bia takes its orders from the Government on this issue. And the Government, as in so many areas, doesn’t appear to have a clue. The message today from Corrigan, and which got lost, is that the future of Irish food exports are in real danger. We in Ireland are so out of touch with the sentiments of our neighbours about the GM issue that we are going to sleepwalk into disaster.

  Taking a quick look at the blogosphere on this news story, I am astonished at the number of lazy, ill-informed hotheads who claim that Corrigan’s press conference today was a publicity stunt for his Dublin restaurant (which, as it happens, is conspicuously successful). If you want a taste of this nonsense, have a look here.

  This is an issue that is much bigger than Richard Corrigan. And it exemplifies, once again, how government in Ireland is on a wing and a prayer. I will happily declare that Richard Corrigan is a good friend of mine. But, if he had got it wrong, I would be equally happy to say so. These are issues that transcend friendship, because they are too important for our future.
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13 Comments »
1.
May 9, 2009
12:32 am
I have assumed that our relative acceptance of GM has to do with the number of big pharma co’s that are here, particularly from the US.
Ireland Inc wants to appear friendly to big Prarma IMO, an industry that is more important to us than tech.
Best,
JD.
PS. In the past I always thought Tom D was a constipated git. Since starting to read this blog, I think he would be a good guy to have a pint or bite with.
Comment by John D
2.
May 9, 2009
10:36 am
Wow, Tom clearly has no idea of what he speaks…..first the Green’s, who are in Government, promised to ban GM feed and haven’t bothered…why? cos it makes no sense scientifically….and has no sales premium.
On Mr. Corrigan…..well, it is now very clear he knows nothing about food as the selective nature of his food concerns and whims are baffling. A quick look at the menu at Richard Corrigan’s fancy London Mayfair restaurant shows foie gras is offered which is fattened duck liver derived from cruelly force feeding ducks by inserting long mechanical tubes into their stomachs. This practice is banned in Ireland, the UK, Denmark, etc and the product itself is now banned in Israel and will be banned in California from 2012……enough said…..
Comment by Jessy
3.
May 9, 2009
11:46 am
“Taking a quick look at the blogosphere on this news story, I am astonished at the number of lazy, ill-informed hotheads who claim that Corrigan’s press conference today was a publicity stunt”
Tom, surely you must know by now that forums and blogs are the domain of this breed of commentator you speak of. If we want accurate informed and well researched debate surely we look to the newspapers. Then again having seen the lazy ill-informed journalism that caught out so many papers recently *cough* wikipedia, its probably best to decypher the message from a number of sources, including blogs, as well as keeping an an ear tuned the horses mouth.
Corrigan has a point but i think the manner in which he went about it doesnt really help push the issue far enough. Calling for the abolition of Bord Bia is ridiculous and i’m sure he’s not the first to question the merits of their vetting system of quality. But i guess when you throw a few well fed journalists on your bandwagon it helps to get a movement going that may be interpretted as a ’stunt’.
I cannot recall too many journalists tackling the issue of GM feed or the quality of the Q mark here before. Does it take a celebrity chef to get the people who should be writing about this to do their jobs properly?
In one way I agree with the blogger, whom you linked too, comment that Corrigan place is behind the stove. If journalists had been covering this hot topic (Corrigan mentioned GM feed in his show a couple of weeks ago. No word in the press about the issue) he might not have felt compelled to bring it to our attention, but reinforce a message already in circulation.
Calling for an individuals head on a plate may be far more effective pursuit for Corrigan. O’Learys been banging on about individuals shortcomings for years and it seems to work for him. May I recommend the dish Financial Regulator à la mode, grilled to perfection and served up bloody.
Comment by paul m
4.
May 9, 2009
1:55 pm
Some great points here. It’s true that there has not been nearly enough media attention to the GM issue and I will do my best to do my bit henceforward.
As to there being no commercial advantage to non-GM food, dear me! Of course there is. This is the whole point. Europe wants non-GM food and as things stand we are in a very parlous position as regards providing it.
Foie gras… I don’t approve of it myself and don’t eat it. But I think you can serve it and still have perfectly valid views on how the Irish food industry functions.
Excellent comment, Paul. I love your final paragraph. And speaking of paragraphs I can now do them thanks to the magic of Firefox!
Comment by Tom
5.
May 9, 2009
4:07 pm
Tom
Far from being a lot of badly researched content that goes on blogs I think if you have a look here http://blog.doneganlandscaping.com/2009/05/08/richard-corrigans-for-the-silly-farm/ you will see that bloggers often talk passionately about what they believe in.
I agree that there are problems with Bord Bia, just as there are with all government agencies but I think that calling a press conference out of the blue and inviting all media is not the way to go about getting change. If Corrigan was actually interested in the cause he would have rounded up other chefs such as Thornton etc and approached BB in private with their concerns who would I am sure have been more than happy to discuss and take on the advice of such high profile chefs.
I have recently been in the UK myself taking to production companies about a TV show and the first thing they say is that you have to have a “cause” to get the public on your side and this is something that just doesn’t sit well with me. I have no problem with chefs backing a worthy cause like how animals are kept etc but calling for an entire agency to be abolished is wild talk.
As I said in my own post I wish great cooks (I don’t say cooks instead of chefs with any disrespect at all because I would class Marco Pierre White and Corrigan as great exponents of cooking and extracting great flavours) would stay behind the stove and leave the entertaining to Gordon and Jamie because lets face it Marco and Corrigan are just not very entertaining on the telly no matter how controversial they try to be.
Comment by Niall Harbison
6.
May 9, 2009
4:49 pm
Lazy, ill informed opinions are re speciality of the blogosphere and that often goes for some of the big name bloggers. Eg one of the above commenters who trots out the hoary (or hairy if you’re Michael Finneran) chestnut of foie gras. This is quite topical at the moment as the journalist who freaked out about duck/goose mistreatment a few years ago has researched further and published a bol concluding widescale mistreatment doesn’t happen an the birds are usually tested better than most chickens and pigs. If you have a problem with foie grad, fine, but at least be consistent and include most pork and chicken products in your list of evil foods.
As for Corrigan, I’m not sure that I agree with him fully but I do think that the myth of Ireland’s great produce is just that. Our raw materials are generally good until food producers get their hands on them.
As for those rushing to shut down Corrigan, this is the same ostrich mentality (recently published in this newspaper) that says the Irish media should only publish hood news stories and then all the foreigners will be fooled and buy our second rate crap.
Comment by An Fear Bolg
7.
May 10, 2009
1:25 am
“first the Green’s, who are in Government, promised to ban GM feed and haven’t bothered…why? cos it makes no sense scientifically….and has no sales premium.”
Jessy, have you any evidence/links for these assertions that the Greens have changed their mind and for the reasons you allege? My understanding is that the Greens are eager and keep pushing on this but FF which is in the feed industry’s pocket is refusing.
Comment by mick
8.
May 10, 2009
6:23 pm
for Mick (Post no. 7):
evidence the Greens have changed their mind on GM feed…..
1. prior to the 2007 election the following was (and still is) posted on the Green Party website…
“Immediately declare Ireland to be a GM-Free zone and prohibit the use of GM ingredients in animal feed”
(ref: http://www.greenparty.ie/en/policies/gm_food)
THEN the following statement was issued in September 2007 by Green Minister Trevor Sargent….
“Minister Sargent said: “In my view the Government objective to seek to negotiate an island wide GM free zone is not about banning imported GM feed”
(ref: http://trevorsargent.ie/2007/09/28/import-of-gm-maize-by-products-and-soya-meal-into-ireland-not-affected-by-non-decision-in-council-of-ministers/)
Q.E.D.
Comment by Jessy
9.
May 10, 2009
8:30 pm
Crikey! That’s pretty stark! Well, I suppose we are stuck with GM feed but what is equally scandalous is that GM-free feed is virtually impossible to get in Ireland. How’s that for choice? And surely consumers should be able to choose between GM-fed meat and non GM-fed meat. I wonder what the Minister has to say, if anything, about that?
Comment by Tom
10.
May 11, 2009
10:12 am
The Sunday Times yesterday summarised RC’s argument and seemed to agree with it. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article6256958.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2
Comment by Tom
11.
May 11, 2009
11:46 am
“Minister Sargent said: “In my view the Government objective to seek to negotiate an island wide GM free zone is not about banning imported GM feed”
Maybe he means the objective is about more than that, but includes banning imported feed?
Comment by joseph
12.
May 11, 2009
1:02 pm
The reason GM free animal feed is more expensive than GM animal feed is because the world price is more expensive due to scaricity arising from the fact that the major exportering countries are increasingly producing GM feed. It has nothing to do with lack of segregation facilities in Irish feed mills.
I would also be interested to know what evidence there is that the EU is shifting to GM free meat. No authoriative research or evidence was produced to support this assertion.
In addition the prinicipal Irish food exports are beef and dairy which are in the main grassfed so the GM feed issue largely irrelevant.
The problem with the anti GM supporters is that they are largely basing their arguments on emotional issues rather than on science.
Owen
Comment by Owen
13.
May 11, 2009
4:17 pm
“Much of what Corrigan has to say about Irish food standards was lost today”
Its great to have a passion/ commitment about something, and have an influencial audience at ur call, but from this review and other reviews of the press conference, it seems corrigan was largely shooting from the hip and gun slinging for heads, rather than being prepared and researched.
Soundbites and controvarsy don’t make for policy changes, they just leave him open to accusations of “attention seeking”.
If anything this episode focuses unnecessary negative attention on our Irish Produce.
Comment by Donal

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