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Feeding Ourselves Gathering, Cloughjordan |
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From March 26-29th many of our members took part in the 16th annual Feeding Ourselves in Cloughjordan. This event continues to serve as a vital meeting point for our diverse Community of Practice, including farmers, researchers, activists, and food justice campaigners. The key themes for this years event were food sovereignty, land-use policy, short food supply chains & advisors, strengthening local food systems and seed sovereignty. See more in SLFE & UWAC updates below. |
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| | Day 2: “Recognising and Resourcing Local Food Producers” |
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Rooted in Strength : Women, Climate & Food Justice |
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The Women’s Articulation were delighted with the success of their event “Rooted in Strength” in IMMA on February 6th, as part of the Brigit’s week festival in Dublin. There was a great turnout in spite of some very wet weather on the previous days, but luckily farmers don’t let a little rain stop them. |
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The nine speakers spoke eloquently on the challenges and successes of their work bringing quality food to their communities. All present were then given a chance to meet in smaller groups and to brainstorm solutions to the challenges. Journalist Silvia Thomspson, who was present on the day, followed with a up this Irish Times article. The full event recording can be watched here YouTube. |
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Sustainable Food Systems – What is the role of universities in making Ireland’s food system more sustainable? Anna Browne represented Talamh Beo at the Climate Justice Universities Union Food Systems event held in TUS Athlone. Ruth Hegarty, Food Policy Ireland & Talamh Beo Board of Directors, explained the role universities could play to help to fix the broken food system, Lisa Fingleton detailed the amazing community initiative Ballybunion Bean festival and Jacinta Dalton, Culinary Arts & Service Industries, ATU Galway, spoke about their alternative local food procurement trial. It was a group that certainly aligns well with our purpose, and hopefully room for future collaborations. |
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Agroecology Now Convergence: the Agroecology and Food Sovereignty Convergence in Brussels |
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March 9-10th – Along with representation from IPES, Wageningen University, Seeding Repartitions, LVC and ECVC, Daniel Connor from Talamh Óg attended two days of discussion and peer learning exploring the relationship of academia and researchers relationship to the broader agroecology movement and peasant communities. There were deep dives into important and powerful discussions and rich connections will be sure to build momentum over the next year and it was a brilliant chance to connect in person with colleagues from ECVC offices. |
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EU CAP Network: The right to Remain Seminar, Brussels |
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On 11th March Talamh Óg connected with their broader community, the ECVC Youth Articulation and Agroecology Europe, in a full day of peer learning and collectively creating feedback to inform the next round of generational renewal policies for CAP. Talamh Óg were part of a small contingent of the 150+ person conference advocating for agroecological solutions – with several of our key recommendations making their way through to the final product of the event. Macra, Leader projects and other Irish stakeholders were also valuable to connect with at this conference which included farmers, policy designers, rural planners and many others. Our representatives found it particularly interesting to see other EU countries perspectives on Ireland’s policies and interpretations of CAP. |
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Strengthening Local Food Economies (SLFE) |
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| We were delighted to co-host the ‘Recognising & Resourcing Local Food Producers’ event at the Feeding Ourselves gathering in Cloughjordan Friday 28th March, where we presented initial findings from our primary research. Drawing on data and insights gathered from interviews, group on-line conversations and the registration form we are building the evidence case for the acknowledgement & support of Local Food Producers in Ireland. |
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This work is on-going. As we enter the dissemination phase, we will continue to engage with producers to test and refine key aspects of our proposal. Please note for your diary that the final event will be in Dublin on October 29th, and please continue to spread the word about our Local Food Producer Database – please share this link with any primary food producers you know. |
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Pathways to Organic Short Food Supply Chains |
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| Mentor Aoife Reilly on her farm visit to Billy Jo at Leagh Farm as part of our mentoring pilot programme. |
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| Our Mentoring Pilot Programme is well underway! Five mentors are supporting mentees with their expertise and experience around Organic food production and short food supply chains. The pilot is running until the end of May. We are also continuing our work on a comprehensive organic short food supply chain guidance manual & supporting case studies – both of which will be available later this year. |
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Updates from Working Groups |
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Women’s Articulation As active members of the National Women’s Council we have proposed a motion for the NWC AGM, later this year. We are also working with the wider ECVC community on a variety of initiatives including spending some time planning for the General Assembly of ECVC happening here in Ireland on November 19th. We encourage members to sign up to the Women in Farming platform, an EU initiative emerging from the International Year of the Woman Farmer. Let’s ensure Agroecological perspectives are shared across Europe. https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/ab90cf6d-b0ac-131a-cef9-2585407f46d8 |
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| | Ailbhe Gerrard, Vanessa Conroy & Mary Hoy from the Talamh Beo Women’s Articulation |
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Talamh ÓgWe enjoyed meeting new members at Feeding Ourselves last weekend and are building momentum for ECVC GA in October. Keep an eye our for summer events and in the meantime… Save the date: Talamh Beo x Gluaiseacht Youth Field School, 5-7 June (Cloughjordan) This summer, Talamh Óg will link up with Gluaiseacht to host a weekend-long field school dedicated to skills sharing, practical workshops, and movement building. All farmers, landworkers, activists, and food systems reformers under 40 are invited to attend. Registration will open soon so stay tuned for more details! To get involved in planning or in Talamh Óg generally, you can email youth@talamhbeo.ie. Interested in joining? Visit this page. |
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Seed Sovereignty Group Last month Talamh Beo welcomed participants to reactivate the Seed Sovereignty Working Group. The group aims to build skills and knowledge on seed saving, increase public awareness about seed sovereignty, and address policy and legislation at national and European levels. The importance of securing the right to save seeds in Ireland is another focal point, drawing inspiration from recent developments in Kenya (Síolta Chroí webinar video). The new group members had a first meeting to introduce themselves, sharing their backgrounds and interests in seed sovereignty, if you are interested in joining this group contact Thomas. |
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A CAP fit for Purpose Talamh Beo has also reactivated our ‘A CAP for for Purpose’ working group to contribute to the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) cycle, 2028-2034. Last month representatives attended a meeting with agricultural organisations, the Environmental Pillar, and the EU Agricultural Commissioner. Key discussions included ring-fencing the CAP budget, shifting toward activity-based payments, and implementing incentives like pension schemes to encourage generational renewal among farmers. |
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The Commissioner spoke about simplification and the need to reduce red tape burden, our group cautioned that we did not want this to lead to less compliance around nitrates and pollution. We also discussed the need for capping payments at 100k per farm along with degressivity of payments. The Commissioner was strong on the need to outlaw unfair trading practices, such as below cost selling, and there was an acknowledgment of the need to support to small growers selling directly including a basic payment for such operators. It was understood that existing CAP schemes did not work for small acreage farmers. The Commissioner confirmed that 35% of the budget will focus on environment and climate issues, with ongoing support for schemes like ACRES, the Leader Programme, and Areas of Natural Constraints. If you would like to join this working group please email admin@talamhbeo.ie and include ‘request to join CAP group’ in the subject line. |
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News from La Via Campesina and ECVC |
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UWAC and Talamh Beo At Feeding Ourselves in Cloughjordan this year, we continued with our joint struggle, shared solidarity activities with farmers in Palestine. We brought Mahmoud Zwahre in from the West Bank via live video link to tell us about farming there with settler attackers constantly increasing. We also gathered seeds for the next 1000 Madleens flotilla to Gaza & raised €500 for Palestinian farmers in the West Bank! Read full article here. We have a new Talamh Beo email list for Palestine, if you’d like to join email admin@talamhbeo.ie and include ‘request to join Palestine list’ in the subject line. |
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| | Seeds being gathered for the next flotilla to Gaza. |
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