Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 May 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Food Democracy: Trócaire

Photo of Michelle MulherinMichelle Mulherin (Fine Gael)
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That was not really my question, with respect. What I am saying is that it became obvious during the discussion that we are not so well suited. I am talking about the protein we get from plants such as beans, not about fruits and vegetables or anything like that, because the debate is around where we get our protein. In fact, the doctor from Teagasc outlined that we are well-suited to get protein from dairy and beef with our pasture land and all the rest. We have some challenges in regard to growing plant-based protein and, in fact, what we find on our supermarket shelves is for the most part imported. Both the climate and soil conditions are more suitable in other countries, which is particularly obvious in the tropics, where people already have challenges with regard to getting food and nutrition.

It seems like a contradiction that there are some agendas pushing people and telling them they should not eat any meat at all. I am not saying that is the middle-of-the-road view and I believe everyone would agree on a balanced diet, but there is an inherent contradiction in that regard. My concern in regard to where Trócaire is coming from is that if it is talking about somewhere in east Africa, for example, where mung beans or pinto beans are grown which people are suggesting is what people should be eating but which we cannot grow here, are there not other tensions? For example, do the people in those areas not need to eat those foods themselves? In addition, we are importing something quite a distance and while I am not suggesting everything is going to come from east Africa, obviously, this food will be transported some distance whereas local is better.

Is this not a legitimate part of the conversation, aside from all that Mr. O'Brien has discussed about the realities for people in Africa and other places which do not have the disposable consumer society we have, where we are trying to stop ourselves from eating wrong foods, and where there would be a whole different set of problems? It has to be recognised that we do not grow those crops as well in our country and, therefore, are not as efficient in growing them as these other countries. In the past, when we were looking for biofuels from certain crops, perhaps from east Africa, that had to be stopped because crops were being imported and people were being displaced from their land to meet the demand of the Western economies to feed into biofuels.

Nobody is arguing about biodiversity, ecosystems and doing it right. I am just saying this is an issue that does not get covered or discussed, although it has been raised here by Deputy Corcoran Kennedy and me.

Where the food is to be brought from is not discussed. If it is to be from Third World or developing countries, which are better suited, there are surely challenges already, with which the delegates are very familiar.