Location
Louisburgh, Co. Mayo
Name
Tommy
Useful Links
Food Miles: Calculator (UK)
AgroBridges: Toolkox [1]
Food miles explained: Eco Experts
Organic Horticulture: Teagasc
Impact:
It is not possible to quantify the environmentally sustainable impact Tommy’s action has achieved. However, we do know that foodmiles can contribute up to 18% of the carbon in your diet. From the point of view of social and local economy benefit, the impact is undeniable.
My personal sustainability action was
I set up a 2.5 acre sustainable market garden. What started off as hobby gardening is now scaled up to about 2.5 acres in producing fruit and vegetables. I wondered if it was possible to produce food in a sustainable way, both environmentally and financially, and as efficiently as possible. I completed the ideas academy with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland which really helped me understand the problems that I see with our food system and how to best use my skills to try to solve them.
What inspired you to do this?
I started off slowly, in recovery from a serious spinal injury having worked in the building industry for 20 years. I needed something to occupy my mind and something I could do to help recover.
I started off small with a few raised beds and during lockdown decided to go for it and found I was physically able to do it. I had a kind of a Eureka moment. I could see that something was possible here. I was always interested in nature, and in economics, and I wanted to examine where does the money that we spend go?
What were the personal and or sustainability benefits?
I had a different identity before my operation. But now I felt I had a new role, and this became my new persona, it was a personal journey. I want to gently provide an alternative to people with prices comparable to the supermarket, but I’m not interested in exclusivity.
The interaction around selling the produce in Louisburgh on a Friday has been very pleasurable. It’s almost as if people were waiting for this: they have a chat, tell me what they made with my produce.
In terms of sustainability, I use waste coffee grounds from a local petrol station and waste sheep’s wool from farmers in the compost I make. I provide produce to a French restaurant in Westport. People can buy produce in the quantities they need from me in Louisburgh, and the money they spend stays in the local economy, it stays in Ireland.
What advice would you have for others to do something similar?
If you have a dream, go for it (if you’re not being reckless). Some people have a closed mind but don’t listen to them. The time is now, we need things that make a difference.
[1] 12 practical tools to support the growth of Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs) bringing producers
and farmers closer to consumers.
Visit our library of community stories
Search our Community Stories By Map
