Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is plugged into the farming community in her constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny and she does considerable work with its members. She is aware of the massive effort from morning until late at night, 365 days per year, that goes into producing food. I was glad to meet the large number of farmers who attended a meeting she organised a few months ago. The onus is on us all to ensure that the considerable work done by farm families ends up on plates, fuels, sustains and nourishes people in whatever part of the world they might be, and is not wasted. This requires that people throughout the food supply chain be attentive to what is happening and eliminate waste. There is an onus on everyone working in the supply chain from farm to fork to ensure that is the case.

In terms of leadership, my Department and the Department of energy, communications and climate are working with the EPA, which has a strong advocacy role in this regard. We have the food charter, which lays out a pathway for companies and everyone else to contribute to reducing food waste. There has been a strong uptake of the charter. Collectively, we will continue driving this forward while also putting out the message, as the Deputy is doing today, about the importance of respecting food and the work that farmers in Carlow and elsewhere put into producing it and of ensuring it ends up nourishing people in our country or anywhere else in the world. People need it and the work that goes into it deserves to end up on their plates.

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