The island of Ireland has a massive opportunity in the agri-food sector, as our abundance of grass and temperate climate are the envy of other countries, according to broadcaster Ella McSweeney. If we don’t protect farmers and biodiversity, and if we don’t keep an eye on the entire food chain, we will lose ground.
“The island’s agri-food sector is definitely well positioned to be very successful, but it needs strong leadership and there are huge challenges,” says Ella, who is well-known for her work on magazine programmes such as Ear to the Ground and The Consumer Show, as well as numerous radio documentaries and series.
“We have so many benefits here. We are an island, we have a good international reputation and this incredible free resource of grass growing everywhere,”
Protecting farmers is key
Uppermost among the challenges are the pressures facing farmers, which can affect the food chain and the environment, notes Ella. “Where you marginalise farmers, you marginalise animals; issues such as antibiotic use and dealing with climate change are very difficult to deal with,” she says.
“We need to protect the farmer’s role in food production and make sure they get a good margin for what they do and not fall into debt.”
Striking the balance
Ella, a Trinity College Dublin science graduate, has written extensively about the perils of overusing antibiotics in farming and she is also concerned about biodiversity loss on the island of Ireland.
“There is a balance to be struck between incredibly successful production and also making sure that we don’t push aside what we have naturally,” she says. “We don’t want to find ourselves in 20 years saying everything we had is no longer here.”
She also laments that here we seem to be attuned to working in sectors rather than as a more connected network, which would help address issues of food security and safety, and environmental protection.
“For example, issues such as VTEC, Campylobacter, Listeria and Salmonella demand not only immediate dissemination of information, but also a look right across the food chain,” she says.
“There is no point in looking at these issues in isolation. They have to be tracked at a minute level across the food chain. This is the only way to understand what is going on.”
In that regard she has found the safefood Knowledge Networks a trove of relevant and timely news. “To have that dissemination of information right across all aspects of the food chain is really helpful for someone in my job,” she says.
Inclusive food policy
Top of Ella’s wish list for the island of Ireland would be a food policy that takes the bigger picture into account. “We have never had such a food policy,” she says. “But if you look at examples from other countries where their food policies are designed to be inclusive of jobs, agriculture, science, health and environmental impact, you get this powerful connectedness that serves the public well.”
Ella’s life and likes
Lives: Between Dublin and “beautiful, dramatic, rural” New York, with partner Mark and their two young sons.
Hobbies: Running and hillwalking with friends.
Pets: Not at the moment, too much to-ing and fro-ing!
Favourite books: Anything by John McGahern, and Harry Potter with the kids.
Favourite podcast: Serial.
Interesting fact: She realised she wanted to be a broadcaster when she was about nine or ten. On hearing an interview on the radio, she thought, “I want to do that!”
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