Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 18 October 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Challenges Facing the Fruit and Vegetable Industry: Discussion (Resumed)
Mr. Niall McCormack:
Absolutely. I am sorry if I am hogging the limelight here but the supermarkets have a part to play in this as well. As we all know, there are specifications that lead to us seeing these aisles of pristine lovely produce but vegetables do not grow in a factory. They grow out in that weather we are experiencing today, such as the floods in Cork. It is going to be hard to harvest this year if we have weather like this. The machinery also cuts the vegetables as they go up the grading line and so on. The supermarkets can help us by reducing the specifications. In the UK, there is what is called "wonky veg". Such vegetables are sold a little bit cheaper, which is to the consumer's advantage while also getting it off the farm.