Our Carbon Footprint Ár lorg carbóin

We hear a lot of talk about air miles and carbon footprints and there is a global effort to reduce them to save our planet from self-destruction. Our air, sea and river systems are polluted, and our environment and human health are endangered.

We, as ordinary everyday human beings can do our bit to help reduce the carbon footprint. We can walk and cycle more, change to electric cars, reduce our usage of plastic, but there is another easy way we can help our environment and that is to examine what we eat and how we source it.

In the not-too-distant past in Ireland we grew a lot of our own fruit and vegetables but that changed when we had the financial boom in Ireland. We travelled abroad more regularly. We experienced a greater range of foods and gradually we had to have the same range of foods at home available in all our supermarkets all year round. We also reduced the amount of gardening we did and there was a discernible reduction in the allocation and usage of allotments.

In my youth we grew all our own vegetables and ate them in season. We grew our own potatoes, cabbage, carrots, parsnips, broccoli, Brussel sprouts onions, leeks, celery, peas, beans, Kale, lettuce, cucumber, corn on the cob and many more. We ate whatever vegetables were in season. We loved the carrot and parsnip mash in early autumn. The broccoli and cauliflower came into season next, and we cooked and ate them. They were always fully fresh, fully organic and always tasted delicious.

After that the Kale was ready in time to make the yummy colcannon at Halloween.

The speciality of the season were the big leafy Brussel Sprouts which needed a. blast of frost to be ready for the Christmas dinner. They were good and tasty and were a necessary part of Christmas dinner with the butter dripping down the sides. They complemented the annual feast of marrowfat peas, mother’s gravy and roast potatoes while not forgetting the free-range turkey and home-made Christmas pudding.

In today’s world everyone wants to eat the full range of fruit and vegetables the whole year round which is why we see garlic from China, peas and beans from Kenya,Onions, new potatoes from Egypt, Broccoli from Spain on our shelves and the list goes on. There is no need for this proliferation of imported foods as we could grow a lot of these vegetables ourselves in our own back gardens and window boxes. with a little effort.

We could also easily grow our own raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes in garden pots and have organically fresh fruit in season every day, right on our own doorsteps.

We can have the lovely smells of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme in our nostrils daily by growing them in pots in our gardens or window boxes

There is one other area where we can cut down on our carbon footprint and that is in the way we source our flowers for gifting. It is amazing that 40 % of the flowers for the European market are grown in Kenya. These are then transported by air or in refrigerated containers to the European flower markets.

We can all help here by checking the source of our flowers and ensure we buy ones that are locally produced or better still gift an indoor or outdoor potted plant which will last and enhance any garden or household. Flowers have many beneficial effects in homes and workplaces.” Flowers in the workplace reduces work stress, enhances concentration, and improves work efficiency by 12%. (1996 Washington State University V.I. Lohr) Furthermore, the working environment will be improved, and the absentee rate will be drastically reduced from 15% to 5%”. Now there’s flower power.

Let’s start to make our planet a healthier place to live. Start growing some of your own veggies, herbs and fruit today. Remember every little helps. You will be richly rewarded and there will be a little less carbon about to pollute and damage our lungs.

Ar aghaidh linn le chéile ar shlí na sláinte agus mar a deirtear Is fearr an tsláinte ná na táinte.

Mick O Callaghan 18/08/2024.