@lifeisbetter.ie / https://fruitnveg.ie/local-growers/
Irish fruit and vegetable growers have teamed up with Bord Bia’s for the ‘Life is Better with Fruit and Vegetables’ campaign. The campaign encourages Irish millennials to boost their intake of fresh, locally-grown fruit and veg. As part of the initiative 18 Bord Bia Quality Assured growers producing turnips, tomatoes, strawberries, parsnips, leeks, carrots, lettuce, Bramley apples, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, raspberries, cucumbers, red eating apples, brussels sprouts, herbs, and mushrooms feature in a video series titled ‘Out of the Ground’, with 13 videos currently featuring on our website and 5 more in production. This series highlights the great care and attention that goes into producing a crop of the highest quality fresh produce.
‘Out of the Ground’ Series
Launched in May 2022, the three-year EU co-funded, multi-country campaign, ‘Life is Better with Fruit and Vegetables’, highlights the health benefits of eating fresh, locally-grown, in season fruit and vegetables, while also providing recipe inspiration on fruitnveg.ie. As part of the campaign, a video series was developed to improve Irish millennials’ understanding of how their fresh produce is produced, from farm to fork. ‘Out of the Ground’ also highlights the sustainability benefits of supporting local produce.
The series showcases fruit and veg growers around the country and shows the production processes necessary to produce a quality crop. A ‘Local Growers and Suppliers Map’ profiling many of the key growers within the industry is available on the campaign website (fruitnveg.ie).
The growers profiled include:
- John, Simon, and Ronan Gormley, a family of swede growers from Garristown, Co. Dublin.
- Matt Foley and his brother, John, are the owners of Kilbush Nurseries, a family-run business with a 40-year history of tomato growing in Rush.
- Joe, John, and Billy McGuinness, as three brothers run Sunglow Nurseries, a family-owned business in Rush with an 80-year history of farming that now specialises in strawberries. .
- Jamie Farrell, a grower at Brookridge Farms in Rush. The family-run business specialises in growing parsnips, leeks, and bunch carrots.
- Alan McCann, a third-generation grower in Rush, runs Morning Fresh Farms with his father Mark, a farm which in glasshouse lettuce production.
- Colm Grimes is a leek grower from Skerries, carrying on a family tradition that spans over two decades.. Robert Bradshaw is an apple grower managing Keelings orchards in St. Margarets.
- Lorcan, Ger, and Dennis Harford, are three brothers who inherited a deep knowledge of growing leafy green brassica crops and other vegetables in Lusk.
- Leo Murphy, a fourth-generation vegetable grower in Malahide, has been growing cabbages for over 30 years.
- John and Karen Kerrigan, father and daughter mushroom growers from, Kells, Meath.
- John Dockrell, a carrot grower from Monroe, Wexford.
Commenting, Lorcan Bourke, Sector Manager for Fresh Produce and Potatoes at Bord Bia said, “Bord Bia have been aware that many people may not appreciate fully where their fruit and vegetables come from and particularly the level of work and preparation that goes into growing crops. The campaign has provided an opportunity to profile some of the top grower professionals of crops in the country. The 18 videos developed on individual crops seek to educate Irish millennials on the important work that takes place at farm level to produce fresh, local, and in-season fruit and veg. By buying locally grown produce, the public is sustaining our grower network and farming communities for future generations.”
Watch the ‘Out of the Ground’ series to learn more about how fresh, local, and in-season fruit and veg is grown, and visit fruitnveg.ie and @lifeisbetter.ie for further information and recipe inspiration.
