Teach the Children Well
I was delighted to once again be invited by back to Airfield Estate by CEO Grainne Kelliher last September, as one of the speakers at their ongoing and very excellent Food Series. The topic this time was Food Literacy: Unearthing the Knowledge Gap and I was speaking on a subject very dear to my heart, food education. We all increasingly are in need of ongoing food education but the most important target group are our own young children and I firmly believe schools, from primary upwards, have an essential role to play in the delivery of same. The title of my own talk was Practical Food Education Should Be Compulsory in Irish Schools (link below this paragraph) and, naturally, waffling for Ireland as is my wont, I once again ran out of time, so here is the full version for those attending on the day who expressed an interest in reading it.
Joe McNamee: Food Writer 
Every time I get stuck in a supermarket queue and cogitate on the content of other people’s trollies, I get the same thoughts. We badly need an education programme to let the generations coming through understand about the joy of food, the economy of cooking at home and the real life extending health benefits of eating well. A lot of the argument runs around cost. With a little imagination and a bit of education, we can convince those who want to hear of the efficacy. Sadly, not too many want to hear.