My dear friend of old, Donal Moran (still available to sign for Man Utd and, until then, erstwhile Managing Director of Cork-based software company WASP Technologies) and I have come together to create a free app, EatForIreland (Twitter: @EatForIreland1) to help the Irish food world in a time of great crisis as the Covid-19 coronavirus has already seen thousands of jobs lost and too, too many Irish food businesses gravely imperilled.
We also hope it will be of use to those people who usually looked beyond the mainstream multiples multiples for their weekly shopping but are now completely confined to home, the ‘cocooning’ elderly, the very vulnerable immuno-compromised and those self-isolating with Covid-19 or displaying symptoms.
There are two primary categories: Cook It Yourself, connecting Irish food shoppers with the very finest of Irish produce; and Cooked For You, connecting Irish diners, wanting to ‘eat out at home’ for a change, with hospitality outlets still offering food for collection or delivery.
It is a very simple web-based app (click here to download: https://eatforireland.ie) connecting Irish food shoppers and diners with independent Irish food producers (specialty food producers, growers, farmers, fishermen, bakers etc), hospitality outlets (restaurants, cafes, takeaways etc) and indie food retailers (butchers, bakers, fishmongers, independent grocery stores and supermarkets, wine & craft beer retailers etc) and umbrella producer groups and farmers’ market groups.
EatForIreland is a web-based directory app, not a shopping app, so it links consumers to the individual member’s primary web page with details of how to order, purchase and collect or take delivery of the particular member’s offering.
We hope that you not only download and use this app yourself but also share it around, to friends and family and your community. This is not just about buying a few fancy treats for the weekend. EatForIreland is designed to be just one small effort in the fight to save Irish jobs and protect the Irish food sector during these challenging times, and so that when this is all over we can continue the fight for true food security for the entire island of Ireland. Sláinte Beath! ❤️
For anyone seeking further information, the EatForIreland press release is accessible on the following page.
Joe McNamee: Food Writer 