The American election has happened and it appears that the shock is wearing off for many who were surprised at the result. It remains to be seen how this will all play out but I for one am hopeful that the Make America Health Again mantra will have a profound effect in reality. While most people seemed to focus on the figurehead of Trump, I have been interested in the team in the background. Recognition of the poisoned food system and the acknowledgement of the role of our farmers as a solution is tantalising stuff! Talks of school meals for children being organic…imagine that! I admit to getting rather excited at the prospect of Joel Salatin being asked to be an advisor to the new government on behalf of agriculture. The ultimate example of regenerative farming at policy level? Woooa! Progress! Enlightenment! The SAD (standard American diet) may become happy again…
 
Yin and yang later in the week on the other side of us a Uk political advisor John McTernan announces that farmers are “ an industry we can do without. We don’t need small farmers”. Ireland sits in the middle, a tug of war metaphorically speaking as changes are afoot. Amidst change there is bound to be chaos so hang on tight! Keep nourished and carry on! 

​Anne Maher

This time of year you will notice a significant rise in advertisements on TV for perfume. Pretty young models selling a lifestyle that is inferred if you purchase. Another layer of chemical brew to add to the current cauldron of beauty products. What is real any more?
 
From fake tan, contouring caked makeup, false eye lashes, hd brows, lip filler, botox, hair products, gel nails and let’s not forget the teeth scenario it is amazing that there is time to get out the door every day. If I was a 20 something would I be slathered in fake tan perfumes and have false teeth and lip filler as the norm because I was groomed into thinking this is normal?
 
The lotions and potions of the beauty industry are staggering in volume. Is the demand that much?  How on earth can our body cope with the onslaught of toxicity? In reality it doesn’t. Our bodies adapt and adjust. Our babies take the brunt. We are paying the price everyday with the impact of this toxic overload. These concoctions end up in our waste water and environment along with all the pesticides and herbicides. The beauty industry has many dark secrets and are becoming an environmental concern in more ways than one.  The reality is disturbing but the evidence of harm is clear to see more and more. But perhaps I can see it now because I am older.
 
People have choices of course. I am not here to judge. I will make a point though about the smell factor. Perfumes, deodorants and body sprays are that miasma that invades directly into everyone else’s space whether you like it or not. I have a teenage daughter who thinks it is totally usual to have a cloud of spray around her going to school. Husband is totally against any personal care products and just relies on cold showers. So you can imagine the conversations in our house. Our homes can be somehow controlled. But what about the  workplace? Second hand smoke impact resulted in the justifiable smoking ban. Thoughts were of the workers in pubs and restaurants. Imagine if we had a similar version in legislation for extreme perfume users in the work situation…? A perfume shed as it were. So that we had areas of clear air we can breathe in while we work? Hairdressers, nail bars, pharmacies, department stores having dedicated strong smell areas. Or should the workers in these areas wear a dedicated protection such as a gas mask? Work places that insisted you removed all excess before starting work?  When you are on that health journey of detoxing you find that smells become difficult to bear. I do believe we are reaching our limits of tolerance. The excess smells may be pushing us over an edge. 

Anne Maher

Here is one that has exorcised me lately. I was looking through some strategy documents in some research rabbit hole for ourselves and came across an interesting (yet unsettling) point.

The Autism Innovation Strategy 2024 launched recently obviously has taken a few years of work and included a public consultation process. While the emphasis is more towards acceptance of autism and neurodivergence I was curious about how policy would feature the role of food in this document. I must admit to expecting the standard mantra… ensure a healthy diet etc.. but when I put the word “food” into a search I found nothing. I then decided to check another broader document  to check the same detail. Action Plan for Disability Services 2024 – 2026. Again? Nothing. What does this mean? Have we forgotten the basics of health? Are our most vulnerable in society being actively and passively denied the opportunity to be nourished? Is it assumed it is all ok? Are we being distanced from the role food plays in our health? Actually that is a daft question because I think I know the answer.
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It is time to bring food back into policy and make a conscious commitment to nourish our community. We are working on it from a bottom up approach. The top down approach had better catch up…!  

Anne Maher

Having the opportunity to enjoy a few dine out options away from the stove and kitchen sink seems 
a treat at times. Holidays allow those moments and as a family we made a conscious effort to enjoy a few new places this year. We do enjoy eating out and over the years it has become easier to manage this feat as a parent now of teenagers. I was reminded of a visit to Dingle years ago and attempting to enjoy a trip to a notable fish restaurant with small children in tow. Short story? In this social setting of appreciation for the culinary work small children did not add to the ambience. We bailed out early. Teaching children to adapt to social settings is one of the tasks of parenthood. An unhappy screaming child is not conducive for a relaxing meal out for anyone. That said I have to draw attention to the dining etiquette that seems to be a common go to for parents now. At a recent hotel breakfast with many young families I was struck by how all set up individual screens for their small children and toddlers to watch while they ate or were spoon fed. No direct interaction. Mindlessly placing food in mouths with little engagement in the present. Peppa pig prattles on while you chew on sausages? This isn’t new behaviour but I must admit that the “normality” of it now is disturbing. Roll on a few years and parents may wonder why their children feel anxious in social settings!
 
Food is your gateway to society and an opportunity to learn how to be together and converse. Learn this skill as early as you can and practice it. #connect.
 
……I had to add to this story since I wrote it. Another family restaurant dining experience since and we noted a family of 2 adults with 6 (!) small children contentedly eating their meals with relish and without screens. I overheard the waitresses comment to each other about how unusual it was to see. It certainly made me breath a sigh of hope! 

Anne Maher

Atwater Factors. Recognising in hindsight that I enjoy numbers it is no surprise that I embraced the concept of calories. Not so much to eat this way but when teaching nutrition it became a formulaic way to translate the information of why the food pyramid was such a wonderful teaching tool. Carbohydrates had less calories than fats. Therefore you could eat far more. Fats were the reason we were overweight…etc etc. I am truly sorry for passing on this as knowledge.
 
Roll on many years and I am having none of it. Food pyramid education and calorie counting are so wrong on many levels. Lets face it. If it was right would we be in the metabolic mess we are in? It turns out that the numbers game is a lucrative one though. Get people to a point where they associate a number with success or failure and they can be guilt ridden enough to part with money to appease it. We have been taught to measure our health in numbers at the expense of common sense. You might feel ill, have no energy, be depressed, have digestive issues etc etc but feel delighted when the doctor tells you that your cholesterol level is low..
 
A meal with real food is substituted for a slimming shake full of ingredients that has a set low number of calories and you might feel virtuous in your weight journey. Before long we loose the plot. We stop seeing food for what it is and count the numbers instead.
 
I see this strategy again for climate change and CO2. Measure it and charge for it accordingly. Be careful about loosing sight of living life as we spend our time counting the unnecessary..

Anne Maher

The recent horse documentary from RTE has caused its justifiable furore. Animals unfit for human consumption are being falsely microchipped to pass a determined standard and create a lucrative business for those who care little for the final consumer.
 
Trust is built with truth and transparency. Exposing the truth brings some transparency but certainly trust in our food system is shaken yet again. There is much to delve into this.
 
This malpractice is not news to the department as it was flagged for a few years. The horse industry seems to be able to by pass the scrutiny that other small farmers cannot avoid. Why is this? Why are some farmers hounded and others ignored? A two tier system of regulation. We have seen raw milk get a lot of scrutiny recently. It certainly seemed over zealous and unfair.
 
Can a consumer trust the food they consume if there is such blatant attempts to put such products on the market? Do labels mean what they say? When trust is broken it is so hard to bring it back. The longer the supply chain the less responsibility you have for the final consumer.
 
This is why shortening the chain can help build back the trust. Many shorter chains in local contexts. Globalisation means we can have what we want when we want but to be honest is it worth the mistrust? I am beginning to wonder. 

​Anne Maher

Commuting to and from The Urban Co-op I happen to meet many tractors. Or follow. The speed of same is dictated by the age of the driver. It is easy to tell from behind. The older farmer travels slower along the road and I notice heads turning left and right to survey the land around. Younger drivers needless to say go faster bopping to music or some such distraction as the head stays firmly forward. These large tractors are quite impressive machines. Technology has advanced so much that they are comfortable and powerful (and a bit scary on the roads!). Measured in horse power can you imagine the conversion of 300 horses to do the work of one tractor?

Recently I came across an old record of a receipt for the first farm tractor purchased by my father. In the late fifties this cost a small fortune of £350. It must have been a game changer from working with horses. I actually do remember this machine in action. My mother driving it on a hot day turning hay, alongside my father as he used the baler with the more modern Massey Ferguson. The weather must have been about to turn but on that day the sun shone gloriously. I smell the dry hay again. Working picnics of tea, sandwiches and cake to keep the momentum going. Sitting on those little grey tractors with no cab farmers were exposed to all the elements. The hay seeds, the dust, the sun, the rain, the smells, the birdsong. Despite the convenience of these work horses you were still in touch with the land through the assault on your senses. Do younger farmers have that connection with the land still? The ability to read the land, the weather and all the signs that nature tells us? I really doubt it. How do we get back to understanding the language of the land again? 

Anne Maher

Lots of conversations in side these weeks on a nostalgia for times gone by when things were simpler. My lateral brain goes from the news that Amazon fresh  is beginning to go off. The novel idea of just picking your scannable items and walking out the door as the cost is taken out of your account is perhaps a step too far for us. Maybe just maybe we need people to interact with along the way. I am remembering being a very young child looking at the high shelf behind the shopkeeper where the tall glass jar with the black lid held the desired apple drops. Perhaps you will remember the time too when you had a human gatekeeper behind the counter who required you to point and request the desired item. Penny sweets in white paper bags. They tasted so good. I do remember wanting to be a shop keeper. How glorious that job appeared to my 5 year old eyes. A wonkaland of possibilities….Little did I know.
 
Back further I remember the infamous shop in Portlaoise called Boylans. Eddie and his brother wore the brown overalls, typical of service to a local community that has not forgotten their impact. As children we were not able to grasp the importance of those conversations as people were traced and stories told while groceries were collected. Shopping was a slow process. My mother would write out her list there and they discussed the latest news of births deaths and marriages. No money changed hands but the list was held on account until the farming harvest came in when the bill was paid.
 
I can still smell the place in my memory. It remains fresh. Unlike Amazon business plans.
 
Fast forward to today and those  many gatekeepers are being made redundant with technology and the promise of progress. Self-service check outs are monotone and quite frankly annoying. There is no conversation. When it doesn’t work in the streamlined time saving way it promises, I feel like a scolded child leaving the supermarket. Unidentified item in the bagging area…
 
Our world is enriched with opportunities to connect and communicate. Accessing food and groceries is one regular way to get that connection back and we see more people acknowledging this benefit. It is prompting those conversations again of the good old days. Memory lane is interesting and fun. Imagine trying to have those conversations with Alexa and Siri? The unfortunate price of progress seems to be disconnection. Is it worth it? 

Anne Maher