Food Matters
Food Matters meets the people who are trying to reconnect us with real, healthy and sustainable food. With our food system causing huge problems for the health of people and planet, there’s a quiet revolution happening driven by passionate people in communities and food businesses around the world who want to do things differently – producing nutritious food in a way that doesn’t cost the earth. Food Matters tells their story.
Join Mick Kelly, founder of GIY as he dives in to proper conversations with the most fascinating food producers, chefs, farmers, scientists, activists and other stakeholders across the food system touching on everything from the pitfalls of ultra-processed foods, food waste and pollution; seasonality, eating more plants, regenerative farming and so much more..
Only by understanding the full panorama of our food's journey can we cultivate a healthier, more sustainable food-future. Join the GIY movement across all social channels and please follow or subscribe to this podcast to continue these important conversations about global food health and sustainability.
Episodes
44 episodes
S3 Ep27: Tom Keogh talks spuds, snacks and food security
Tom Keogh has a great story to tell. Their family has been farming the land for over three generations, supplying the fresh produce market with potatoes grown on the farm in North County Dublin. Faced with falling demand for fresh spuds, Tom to...
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1:07:23
S3 Ep26: Beyond Carbon Neutral: John Gilliland’s approach to Sustainable Farming
John Gilliland is on a mission to transform how we think about food, farming, and the environment. At Brook Hall Estate, his family’s historic farm in Derry, John began by trying to lower his farm’s energy bills, but his changes grew into a mod...
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1:01:03
S3 Ep25: From Surf to Turf, with Fergal Smith
Having spent over a decade as an international pro surfer, Fergal Smith made the life-changing decision to return home to the west of Ireland and follow in his father’s footsteps as an organic farmer. Starting with just half an acre of l...
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49:11
S3 Ep24: Farming in a conflict zone - Dr Ollie Moore’s journey through the West Bank
Dr Ollie Moore is an expert in the sociology of farming and food, and one of Ireland’s leading experts on food systems and champions of food justice. As a member of Talamh Beo, Ollie was invited by a farming development and advocacy organ...
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1:02:28
S3 Ep23: From Chef to Seed Saver: The Journey of Mitch McCullough
Mitch McCullough’s journey into the world of heirloom seeds and heritage vegetables is anything but ordinary. A former chef turned grower, Mitch explores the fascinating stories behind the plants we eat. His book, ‘The Seed Hunter: Discover the...
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37:35
S3 Ep22 - Exploring Ireland’s Culinary Past, with Mairtín Mac Con Iomaire
We talk a lot about the future of food on this podcast, but what about the past? Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire is on a mission to uncover and celebrate Ireland’s deep-rooted food history. From the earliest evidence of dairy farming over 5,000 years a...
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1:11:55
S3 Ep21 - The power of organic fitness, with Colman Power
Colman Power’s mission is a simple one – to help people become happier and healthier through good food, regular movement, and spending time in nature. Having studied horticulture at third level, Coleman became a skilled organic grower and a per...
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50:13
S3 Ep20: How small scale farming can make a big impact, with Kevin Wallace
Kevin Wallace had no farming background at all, yet he has become one of Ireland’s most successful small-scale producers, growing a range of produce including salad greens, summer crops and speciality products for hotels, restaurants and cafés....
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1:08:26
S3 Ep19: Taking a zero tolerance approach to food waste, with Conor Spacey
When Conor Spacey was working in his first kitchen he was shocked at the amount of perfectly good food being thrown away. He convinced his boss to let him save it, cook it, and use it to feed all of his colleagues. It was a small change that ma...
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1:21:19
S3 Ep18: Baking bread, building community with Ciara O hArtghaile
When Ciara O hArtghaile returned home to Co Antrim, after a year living in New Zealand, she and her husband had a clear mission: to build a community around love of good food, in their home town of Ballycastle. They started to bake high...
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54:15
S3 Ep17: Turning unused city spaces into thriving farms
Brian McCarthy founded innovative urban farming project Cork Rooftop Farm during the first covid lockdown in March 2020. Situated on a rooftop in Cork city centre, the farm started off as a personal project to grow fruit and vegetables. But Bri...
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55:36
S3 Ep16: From Plant to Plate, with Darryl Gadzekpo and Ella Phillips
Darryl Gadzekpo and Ella Phillips are on a mission to get kids growing, cooking, and eating more plant-powered food. Having previously worked in the arts, Darryl and Ella have brought all of that creativity into what they do today: growing inte...
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59:58
S3 Ep15: Getting to the core of apple growing in Ireland with Con Traas
Did you know that Ireland is very well-suited for growing apples, but despite that, we import over 95% of the apples we eat? Irish apples can sometimes be difficult to buy, but when you do find them, there’s a good chance they were grown by Con...
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59:03
S3 Ep14: 20 years of The Happy Pear
In 2004, David and Stephen Flynn, aka The Happy Pear, opened a small fruit and veg shop in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, with a dream of helping people eat more veg. Now, two decades later, The Happy Pear is one of the best-known and...
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1:00:41
S3 Ep13: Charles Dowding - The ‘No-Dig’ Guru
So is it possible that digging your garden is a total waste of your time? According to our guest on this episode, it may be time to put down that shovel and spend those precious hours doing something way more productive. Charles D...
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1:05:37
S3 Ep12: How a passion for growing became a successful career
Lynsay Orton always had a passion for growing rare and exotic fruit and veg until unexpected family circumstances turned that passion into a very niche and successful business. Operating out of just six polytunnels on Ross Hazel Farm, Lynsay gr...
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58:32
S3 Ep11: Fighting for a Fairer Food System, with Pete Russell, Ooooby
Pete Russell was running a 12m dollar-a-year food company when, suddenly, he had a “road to Damascus” moment. Pete realised that he was a part of a broken food system that was loaded against small food producers, and he knew that he wante...
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55:08
S3 Ep10: The Power of Permaculture, with Perrine Hervé-Gruyer
When we work with, rather than against nature, great things can happen: soil is healthier, biodiversity richer, and crop yields higher. Perrine Hervé-Gruyer learned this first-hand when she and her husband created The Bec Hellouin farm in Norma...
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55:48
S3 Ep 9: Mark Diacono – from River Cottage to his own ‘climate change farm’
Mark Diacono found his life’s purpose and direction through food and he has dedicated his life to growing, cooking and writing about it. Having been involved in the early days of River Cottage, Mark went on to pursue his dream of creating his o...
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1:02:25
S3 Ep8: Karen O’Donoghue – my lifelong journey to a Happy Tummy
Cork-born Karen O'Donoghue is a woman with a mission: to improve people's gut health through the bread she bakes at The Happy Tummy Co. in Westport, Co Mayo. Her baked goods are the culmination of a long and sometimes painful journey involving ...
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1:09:07
S3 Ep7: Sally Barnes - Ireland’s ‘Wild Salmon Warrior’
Sally Barnes is both a force of nature and a champion for it. One of Ireland’s most iconic artisan food producers, Sally runs the last smokehouse in Ireland that deals exclusively with Ireland’s diminishing stock of wild fish.
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1:07:38
S3 Ep6: Caitlin Ruth, Fermenting Change
Get the jars, vinegar and flavourings at the ready because Caitlin Ruth is about to inspire you to start pickling and preserving everything you can get your hands on. Caitlin worked as a professional chef in many kitchens in many places, but he...
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1:12:01
S3 Ep5: Why size doesn’t matter! Huw Richards & Sam Cooper
They say that size doesn’t matter, it’s what you do with it that counts. And when it comes to growing our own food, that’s certainly the case. Renowned gardener Huw Richards and highly accomplished chef Sam Cooper have spent the last two years ...
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1:06:19
S3 Ep 4: Johnny Flahavan – Not your Run of the Mill Family Business
Flahavans is one of Ireland’s most iconic family businesses. Having milled locally-grown oats in Co Waterford for almost 250 years, the family has built the Flahavans brand over seven generations and it is now synonymous with porridge and other...
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1:05:54
S3 Ep3: Dr Rebecca O' Mahony – How to get that good gut feeling
Most of us have grown up learning that bugs and bacteria are bad, but did you know that our bodies are packed full of little microbes that are working day and night to keep us healthy and happy? Collectively, we call this the microbiome, and th...
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1:16:02