Ireland’s ecosystems have been almost completely destroyed by our food system – the result of frequently violent human colonisation and its nasty friend; capitalism. Together these forces transformed our island from a species rich, temperate rainforest, into a post-apocalyptic landscape of barren fields and mono-cultures.

Not that most of us notice – such is the shifting baseline of what is normal, or nice, over many generations. The cut and tidy English lawn is drilled so deep into our collective thinking now, that many of us are genuinely repulsed by what is truly wild and natural. Ecocide, genocide, linguicide - what the great men of empire did here was replicated across the world.

Food is a central plank of this tragedy. A radical cultural shift has taken place in our eating habits over the last fifty years to support a highly profitable and destructive international food system. James Bond villains have nothing on the madness of it all.

Who grew this food? Under what conditions? Did anyone get hurt? Did anyone make a living?

The food being sold to us in supermarkets every day is travelling around the world on diesel powered boats, riddled with harmful chemicals, genetically engineered to stop us growing more of it and directly funding genocide - killing kids - in Gaza.

Our dinner is killing our world.

So, how does a pineapple make it to west Belfast where the temperature regularly goes sub zero? Who grew this food? Under what conditions? Did anyone get hurt? Did anyone make a living? What about the forests and the fields this food came from? What about the people who live there? What chemicals are in it? Who benefits? What’s the alternative?

Asking these questions and having these conversations is what Feirm an Phobail is about. We don’t want to google it or ask AI – we want to have meaningful conversations without directly supporting Elon Musk and his oligarch mates who harvest our data for their space adventures.

We want to talk about what we can do together to develop food sovereignty – independent seed sources and healthy food, grown locally by people who aren’t motivated solely by personal profit. We want to talk about the local institutions which support wealthy people to ‘go organic’ and force poor people to feed their families unhealthy food.

We want to talk about who has power – like what does the Ulster Farmers Union do? How come corporations like Moy Park and JPS are being supported by our political institutions to profit from destruction? What are the relationships between our politicians and these corporations? How do we break free from our food chains?

From deforestation in the Amazon to poisoning Lough Neagh, mega food corporations control what we eat and how we live our lives. But communities all over the world are fighting to take back control of where food comes from.

If we are going to play our part, what can we do?

On Friday 23 May we held our first Feirm an Phobail initiative at Gairdín an Phobail. Over 200 people were in attendance, experiencing international food prepared by the Kind Economy chefs (refugees) who are exposing the fake news of fascists through the medium of food.

People bypassed supermarkets to fill bags with fresh produce from local farmers who are rejecting old systems to embrace a more sustainable future.

There were herbal remedies made from local plants, baby trees up for adoption and seed bomb supply lines opened to support local re-wilding initiatives.

We raised £2,021 for our friends in Palestine and Sudan and everyone took home the seeds they need to start their own little food revolution at home.

We have big plans for future events and a regular food box scheme – if you are interested add your contact information here.