Ciara's Country Flavours: food strategy leads the way in Kilkenny

Here’s what we like to see – a county and its food producers coming together to work towards a shared vision. And Kilkenny has the spotlight this week as they launch their Kilkenny Food Vision 2020-2025. The launch happens this Thursday 24 October but ahead of it, Irish Country Living has been given a sneak peak of what is to come.

First off, the Food Vision document which is funded by Kilkenny Local Enterprise Office (LEO) and Kilkenny LEADER Partnership (KLP) comes with some reputable evidence behind it. In 2009, the county devised its original food strategy which at the time was the ground-breaking pioneer of the many county food strategies that followed in the last decade.

For Kilkenny, it has led the way in terms of building the Savour Kilkenny Festival of Food. Taking place over the October bank holiday, it has become one of the best food festivals in the country.

On top of that, it has improved their producer/chef relationships and has resulted in an engaged core group of food stakeholders.

The plus sides

So what will the next step be for these enthusiastic foodies? Well the food meccas of Cork, Galway, the Boyne Valley and Wild Atlantic Way better watch out as Kilkenny is bidding to become Ireland’s strongest local food economy and food culture hub.

It also plans to increase the amount of local food and beverages on menus and retail shelves in the city. This will reduce food miles, limit the environmental impact and grow local food consumption by 30% over the next three to five years.

It also plans to set up Ireland’s first ever food verification system. This means when you see producers on a food menu, it isn’t just lip service. The restaurant must be able to show evidence of this, if a customer requests it. This is all based off a highly successful Canadian model called “Feast On”, which recognises businesses committed to sourcing Ontario-grown and made food and drink.

Key aims for the future are to lengthen and strengthen the annual food calendar of activity within the county

Even Rebecca Mackenzie, the person that heads up the pioneering programme (the first of its kind in the world), has given her input to help make this a success in Kilkenny.

She is just one of the contributors to the Kilkenny landmark strategy which includes local stakeholders.

Caroline Hennessy, Kilkenny LEO business adviser says: “The engagement process involved consultation meetings, an online food survey for food stakeholders and a separate one for consumers. Key aims for the future are to lengthen and strengthen the annual food calendar of activity within the county and the creation of a food development office to coordinate all future food activity.”

Support from farmers

Stakeholders go right from the farm to the consumers enjoying the food. Third-generation Kilkenny farmer and IFA county chair James Murphy is one of them. He says meat producers across the county will wholeheartedly support the Kilkenny Food Vision 2020-2025 and that supplying the local market with premium beef, lamb and pork will sit well with their green credentials and their efforts to add value to what they produce.

“Farmers in this area won’t have any difficulty being part of a food verification system. They already are Bord Bia certified so the food-verification system proposed is no big deal. Meat producers are all for it.

“There are many farmers in Kilkenny who are really struggling to make an income and who would love an opportunity like this to help boost local food consumption by as much as 30%.

If people are really serious about climate change, then we have to think differently and act differently

"The big question is will the consumer – be it a restaurant or a hotel or a typical customer in a butcher shop – be prepared to pay a bit more to make this sustainable so the supplier can have a sustainable income too.

“If people are really serious about climate change, then we have to think differently and act differently. People want cheap food. But it’s coming at a cost to our environment. We as consumers have to start somewhere. And we’re proposing in Kilkenny through the Kilkenny Food Vision 2020-2025 that it starts with our food.

“We hope people would redouble their efforts to really support local, by buying food with less food miles, supporting local suppliers who live in local communities, spend money in local communities and help sustain rural Ireland. It’s a small start, but we have to start somewhere.

James’s son, Jim, is 22 and is studying food science at Waterford Institute of Technology. He’s ambitious about his future job prospects in the region and he and his classmates are looking at the bigger picture for food in Kilkenny, the wider southeast and in Ireland as a whole.

In the northeast, Boyne Valley Flavours and Hinterland Festival Kells officially launched their brand new festival – Samhain: 5,000 years of Irish Food & Culture.

This festival taking place in and around Kells, Co Meath, from 1 to 3 November and has a heavyweight line-up of events with Michelin-starred chefs, global award-winning cookbook authors, leaders in sustainability, family self-sufficiency and kids’ workshops. Well-known food personalities participating in the festival include Darina Allen, JP McMahon, John and Sally McKenna, Michael Kelly, Niall Sabongi and the Gastro Gays.

The theme of ‘Food and Culture’ will be discussed and debated over the weekend in events such as:

This festival is part of Fáilte Ireland’s Taste the Island, an all-island initiative designed to significantly enhance Ireland’s global reputation for its food and drink experiences.