NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bord-Bia-the Irish Food Board hosted “Going Green from Farm to Fork,” a virtual pre-St. Patrick’s Day briefing for U.S. media on the central issues of farm and food sustainability through a conversation with Bord Bia CEO Tara McCarthy and chef, author and sustainable food advocate Dan Barber.
McCarthy discussed how Ireland is responding to these issues through Origin Green, the world’s first and only national food sustainability program, one that unites the food sector from farmer to producer to retailer around shared, measurable sustainability targets.
“We've been tracking consumer choice all the way through Covid, and we had some interesting statistics relating to consumers being more conscious of their diet and of sustainability in their diet,” she said. “Our research shows the just under 50% of global consumers are looking to purchase more sustainably in these last 12 months and 23% percent of them are prepared to pay more for the products that are more ethically, sustainably produced. They increasingly look for trust and while trust is good, proof is better, and the Grass Fed Standard for beef and dairy that we launched in the last 12 months is a world-first verifiable proof point for our grass-fed cattle.”
Barber drew on his experience as the groundbreaking chef of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, author on the influential The Third Plate, and co-founder of Row 7 Seeds, a seed company built by chefs, farmers and breeders striving to make ingredients taste better.
“The fundamentals of beef, meat, and dairy are really about growing great grass and about farmers who are concentrating on the diversity of grass, the health of grass, and the wealth of free energy to feed us,” Barber said. “The sun shines, the grass grows, the grass feeds the animals, and the animals feed us, and that is the definition of sustainability, and that's at the root of what I have now learned about Irish agriculture. We too often neglect to celebrate deliciousness because sustainability and deliciousness are one in the same. Butter, milk, and cheeses that is grass-based clearly have huge health benefits.”
He added that Ireland is providing a model to the world for sustainable food production. “The real cost of producing food, in a biological environment, like what we are hearing about with dairy and beef from Ireland, is the future of food and the next trend”.
To view the 30-minute recording of the event go to: https://livestream.com/accounts/285324/events/9557214
Bord Bia social media:
Twitter: @OriginGreen & @BordBia
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bord-bia---the-irish-food-board/
About Bord Bia:
Bord Bia (The Irish Food Board) is the Irish government agency charged with the promotion, trade development and marketing of the Irish food, drink, and horticulture industry, working to enhance the reputation of Irish food and drink to develop markets for Irish suppliers and bring the taste of Irish food to more tables world-wide. Headquartered in Dublin with a network of 15 global offices, Bord Bia pursues emerging opportunities and actively responds to significant market issues that affect the industry.
About Ireland’s Grass Fed Standard
In 2020 Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, launched a Grass Fed Standard for Beef and Dairy, the world’s first on a national scale, that allows it to track and verify the percentage of grass consumed in the diet of Irish beef herds.
Irish processors are now able to provide verifiable proof, in the form of a Grass Fed Standard, to support a grass fed claim that beef from Ireland comes from grass fed cows.
The Grass Fed model will use data collected during the ISO-accredited Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS) on-farm audits to determine the grass fed status of each participating herd. For more information visit: www.bordbia.ie
