“One of the slogans hung on tractors and recited at this week’s protests declared
“No farms, no food”, implying both were under threat from the fuel price crisis.”
“The reality is that we don’t have any food security in Ireland because the vast majority of what we consume is imported and the vast majority of what we produce is exported,” says Emma Howard, economist at Technological University Dublin.
“If you look at beef and dairy, which are our main produce, between 80 and 90 per cent of that is for the export market.“
“Then people would indeed know where their food comes from and the answer would be: not here.”
pathfinderoursaviour on
I’ve always found the no farmers no food slogan to be the slogan of bullies
So because they grow food they should be allowed to do what they want, when they want, how they want?
Everyone who I’ve seen use that slogan as a profile pic or as a poster or banner has always been a downright bully who is incapable of thinking about others, like take Christopher Duffy he has it all over his Facebook and TikTok and he was the one hoping Isreal would rape greta thunberg to death over *checks notes* wanting to feed starving civilians and campaigning to save our climate the very thing farmers depend on to work
eatboomstick on
Irish dairy farmers don’t want to pay Irish grain farmers for Irish grain, they’d rather import cheaper stuff. And then complain about no one wanting to pay the price for Irish meat and dairy, so they export that. You go to SuperValu to buy vegetables and you’re getting basil from Kenya, onions from Spain, and potatoes from the UK. It’s crazy. The best place I’ve found to get actual Irish produce is surprisingly in M&S, and the price is comparable to what SuperValu and Dunnes are selling from the ends of the earth.
RobotIcHead on
The slogan ‘No farms no food’ is nonsense. Milk and butter would be the biggest thing that could be stopped. The article is missing some basic research though, most tillage/cereal crops grown in Ireland are used in animals feed, the statistic was around 90% last I checked.
The government have been trying for a while to set up a flour mill to actually process some grains grown here. BTW from conversions with grain farmers, not all the grain grown would be suitable for human consumption. We have a later spring, less sunlight, a colder and damper climate. Also food standards have gone up a lot in recent decades. One tillage farmer I know said after last year he was thinking of getting out, it was a bad year for tillage.
Last point I want to make is around exporting: the reason that the food is exported is that export markets are more profitable and profitable farms have been the goal of agricultural policy for decades.
Btw I am from a farming background but beyond helping out on the family farm I am not involved anymore and I see the point of the protests but I also know that the availability of fuel is going to be a huge challenge anyway.
Garth8888 on
Now that Trump has blocked the Strait of Hormuz himself, the price of oil , gas helium, fertiliser etc.etc. will reach new levels. But there will not be any big tractors taking a fast spin in Dunbeg golf course. I wonder why.
5 commenti
“One of the slogans hung on tractors and recited at this week’s protests declared
“No farms, no food”, implying both were under threat from the fuel price crisis.”
“The reality is that we don’t have any food security in Ireland because the vast majority of what we consume is imported and the vast majority of what we produce is exported,” says Emma Howard, economist at Technological University Dublin.
“If you look at beef and dairy, which are our main produce, between 80 and 90 per cent of that is for the export market.“
“Then people would indeed know where their food comes from and the answer would be: not here.”
I’ve always found the no farmers no food slogan to be the slogan of bullies
So because they grow food they should be allowed to do what they want, when they want, how they want?
Everyone who I’ve seen use that slogan as a profile pic or as a poster or banner has always been a downright bully who is incapable of thinking about others, like take Christopher Duffy he has it all over his Facebook and TikTok and he was the one hoping Isreal would rape greta thunberg to death over *checks notes* wanting to feed starving civilians and campaigning to save our climate the very thing farmers depend on to work
Irish dairy farmers don’t want to pay Irish grain farmers for Irish grain, they’d rather import cheaper stuff. And then complain about no one wanting to pay the price for Irish meat and dairy, so they export that. You go to SuperValu to buy vegetables and you’re getting basil from Kenya, onions from Spain, and potatoes from the UK. It’s crazy. The best place I’ve found to get actual Irish produce is surprisingly in M&S, and the price is comparable to what SuperValu and Dunnes are selling from the ends of the earth.
The slogan ‘No farms no food’ is nonsense. Milk and butter would be the biggest thing that could be stopped. The article is missing some basic research though, most tillage/cereal crops grown in Ireland are used in animals feed, the statistic was around 90% last I checked.
The government have been trying for a while to set up a flour mill to actually process some grains grown here. BTW from conversions with grain farmers, not all the grain grown would be suitable for human consumption. We have a later spring, less sunlight, a colder and damper climate. Also food standards have gone up a lot in recent decades. One tillage farmer I know said after last year he was thinking of getting out, it was a bad year for tillage.
Last point I want to make is around exporting: the reason that the food is exported is that export markets are more profitable and profitable farms have been the goal of agricultural policy for decades.
Btw I am from a farming background but beyond helping out on the family farm I am not involved anymore and I see the point of the protests but I also know that the availability of fuel is going to be a huge challenge anyway.
Now that Trump has blocked the Strait of Hormuz himself, the price of oil , gas helium, fertiliser etc.etc. will reach new levels. But there will not be any big tractors taking a fast spin in Dunbeg golf course. I wonder why.