Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Last week Dr. Sinead McCarthy from Teagasc appeared before the committee on Europe Day. We discussed food in the context of climate action, carbon emissions and the contention that we need to get more of our protein from plants. I observed that when one goes into the supermarket and looks for beans, lentils, and pulses, all these products are imported. Dr. McCarthy acknowledged that growing beans and different plant proteins for human consumption is not ideally suited to our climate or soil. This would, therefore, necessitate importing such produce, unless there is some other solution. My understanding is that agricultural land in the tropics and in developing countries is probably more suited to growing this produce. Is there not a conflict in policy that needs to be addressed? How is it being teased out? Some of my colleagues gave the example of the avocado, but what are the number of air miles to bring an avocado to Ireland? Will the witnesses comment on the interplay between people at subsistence level who are producing food and those in first world countries thinking they are doing well by eating more plant-based protein and how that looks in the round?

Second, the witnesses from Trócaire outlined the work they are doing to improve the situation for many people, but what engagement do they have with African governments? Do those governments allow Trócaire to proceed with its work or do they implement the programme that it suggests or co-fund it? Do they have national reach and irrigation programmes, and do they make moves to stop deforestation in the manner it is happening in some countries? To what extent are these governments engaging and accepting Trócaire's principles? It seems that in many African countries, especially in east Africa, the gulf between the wealthy and the poor is widening and even though the continent has more wealth, the poor are poorer than they ever were.