Flying the flag for local produce in the Kingdom

From waking up to the best of Kerry produce on your plate in an award-winning B&B to foraging for seaweed along the Wild Atlantic Way, there has never been so many ways to enjoy local food in the Kingdom.

To help spread the word, Taste Kerry has appointed a network of “Food Ambassadors”– including B&Bs, restaurants, hotels, cookery schools, food stores, farmers markets, festival organisers and more – as part of its latest initiative: The Kerry Food & Drink Experience.

At a special event at The Rose Hotel, Tralee, a new information booklet and trail map was launched. It highlights the ambassadors who have agreed to support local food producers while sharing their knowledge of the region’s food with their customers.

One of the ambassadors, Helen Heaton of the award-winning Castlewood House in Dingle, told Irish Country Living that it was a “wonderful initiative”.

“We’re very conscious that there are a lot of people who want to know about the local food and they love to hear the story behind it. With every single dish I put on a plate, I am so conscious that it’s Ted Browne’s salmon from down the road, we’ve Annascaul sausages and we consciously try to increase the amount of local food on our menus every year,” she says.

“This is a great initiative in that it makes people who live in Kerry and who visit Kerry aware of the fabulous food products that are made and grown with passion in Kerry.”

Copies of the new information booklet will be distributed countywide to all tourist offices and to all the listed businesses. For further information, visit www.tastekerry.ie