Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 22 November 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Michael Kelly:

Yes. In terms of the Acting Chairman's point about teaching children the connection between soil and where their food comes from, that is an absolute critical life skill that, unfortunately, most children do not have. They do not understand that peas come from a plant and think they come from a plastic package. There is a huge amount of work to be done to develop food empathy, which is what we call it and is a deeper understanding of where food comes from and one's place in the food system.