Sir, – Excuse my intemperance, but the next time I read a letter from a city dweller bemoaning the lack of Irish-grown vegetables in our shops I’m going to send them a home-grown turnip in the post.
First, how lucky we are to have a bountiful selection of fruit and vegetables drawn from around the world for our delectation, facilitated by our free-market economy and a market that supports thousands of Irish jobs and assists the export of Irish-produced goods and services throughout the world. Second, there seems to be the idea out there that landowners are obliged to grow vegetables as a vocation and just for the enjoyment of it. The torrential rainfall may inconvenience the city dweller who may have to bring an umbrella to get from the house to the car, but the vocational vegetable grower either cannot till the soil to sow the vegetables or cannot harvest the ones they struggled to plan in the wettest March on record – followed by a drought in April and May and a very wet July. And not all soil is suitable for growing crops.
There are numerous niche, labour-intensive, excellent small organic and artesian vegetable and fruit growers in Ireland supplying local markets and struggling to make a living, constantly in fear of supermarkets drawing their customers away by offering loss-leader and half-price giveaways just when your local producer has a bountiful crop to sell. It is virtually impossible to make a decent living growing vegetables in Ireland, as can be seen by the number of large dedicated growers leaving the market. As the saying goes, if there was money in it everyone would be at it. The ideal of growing local produce is fine in itself but might only become possible when consumers forgo buying the cheapest, cut-price product available in multinational outlets and reward Irish producers for their commitment with their ongoing loyalty and hard cash. As tillage acreage declines too due to reduced prices and increasing input costs, it is also simply not economically viable to grow vegetables in Ireland without government or Common Agriculture Policy support. If we want our own viable vegetable and fruit industry then we should be willing to support it, now. And as the world warms and large tracts of land become unproductive through global warming, Irish consumers may look back in fondness at the rich collection of imported fruits that were cheap and available at their fingertips. – Yours, etc,
TOM FINN,
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Cappataggle,
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Co Galway.