Remarks by President McAleese at the opening of the 2nd National Grow it Yourself (GIY) Conference
Remarks by President McAleese at the opening of the 2nd National Grow it Yourself (GIY) Conference Guinness Hop Store, Dublin
Dia dhíbh a dhaoine uaisle. Tá an-áthas orm bheith i bhur measc inniu ar an ócáid speisialta seo. Míle bhuíochas díbh as an gcuireadh agus an fáilte a thug sibh dom. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for that warm and generous welcome. I’m delighted to be here today and would like to thank Michael Kelly for his kind invitation to open the second National Grow It Yourself Conference.
At the simplest level, GIY is about growing your own food. Until relatively recently it was what everyone did, even in cities but then life suddenly became a lot busier, convenience foods became a lot more accessible and in a time-poor world it seemed a long wait between planting potatoes in Spring and putting them on the dinner table in July. Or as a market survey carried out on behalf of An Bord Bia, concluded “the time-poor consumer is veering towards convenience and instant gratification!” And then life changed again as we rapidly came to terms with the stark realities of recession, unemployment and indebtedness after a period of rapid growth, nearly full employment and a consumer giddiness which had lost touch with value for money.
For nothing will ever give you as good value for money as the seeds sown in your garden that grow to meals shared around a family table or to a harvest of good healthy foods shared with neighbours and friends. Now the days of the vegetable garden and the allotment are back as new time gives birth to a new spirit beyond anger, indignation and disappointment. Part of that new zeitgeist or spirit of the times is captured in the GIY movement and in the human need to connect with values and ways of living which are sustainable, life-enhancing, family and community oriented.
There is something innately honest about digging your own potatoes or picking blackcurrants or snipping cut and come again lettuce or making desserts with your own apples and rhubarb, swapping your pears with neighbours who have great sweet plums. There is a satisfaction in it that is altogether different from opening a packet or a tin. There is, of course hard work, patience and the prospect of failure involved for we have these things called weather, soil and pests which introduce a series of random or chance factors into the life of the avid gardener but once your back gets used to the hoeing and digging, the composting and manuring, there is excitement and fulfilment, pleasure and pride, there is good food, a wholesome and productive hobby and there is a reintroduction to this thing called time. There is also the opportunity for new friendships and networks as the flourishing GIY movement is showing. There are neighbours who share ideas, seeds and produce, there are online communities who keep in touch with like-minded people and each connection, whether on a street or on the Web, is a powerful investment in a healthy human connectedness and a practical social networking reminiscent of the traditional culture of the meitheal.
The families who grow some of their own food whether it is in a window box in an apartment, an urban garden or a rural farm, not only have a more profound awareness about the value of food and its creation but also of their own stewardship of the earth and the simple ways in which they can take that stewardship seriously, in the recycling, the composting and in the use of produce that does not come in the fancy packaging that creates disposal issues and costs. There are rewards in terms of taste, fun, success, problem-solving, skill-building, economising and embedding a culture of good habits that are good for the individual, for families, communities and for our shared world.
Jonathan Swift in his novel, Gulliver’s Travels admits his admiration for “… whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before…”. The genius of GIY has been to grow an old idea that had almost faded from memory, to bring back into our lives the homegrown spud, the freshly laid egg, the windfall apple from our own tree, to introduce us anew to these simple pleasures and treasures and to teach us anew how to create them on our own doorsteps. You give us the encouragement and the guidance that makes it possible to put our own jam on the table and to know the joy of seeing our kids dig up their first new potatoes, pick their first tomatoes off the vine, get the scent of mint on a summer evening at their own back door- and begin to believe again that no matter how tough things get in our sophisticated world there are things we can do with our own hands to bring renewal and freshness into our lives.
I offer my congratulations to all of you who have worked so hard to bring this event to fruition and hope you have a very successful conference and a very enjoyable weekend.
Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.