RESEARCH REPORT FROM 2019 EVENT – ENVIRONMENTAL & ETHICAL DEICISION MAKING FOR IRISH FOOD BUSINESSES

28 Irish Food Businesses supported the independent research carried out by Tom O’Dea on the impact our decisions as food business owners has on the environment.

The research was undertaken in order to simply try and navigate through the masses of mixed messages that we all receive around what is ‘the right thing’ to do in the face of Climate Change and the future of our industry. A better understanding of the complexities of supply chain and production methods for some of the simple daily choices like imported or local tomatoes, ultimately leads to better decision making.

HERE you will find the report in both its full document form and in summary (we recommend reading the summary first and then the full document if you would like to know more details).

What is clear is that there is no magic button, no ‘one size fits all’ model for food businesses and that the levels of impact from agriculture, food production and transport are complex, situational and varied.

Ultimately we will all have to make the decisions for our businesses that we feel are right for us and our customers but there is now no escaping the fact that every one of these decision from here on, will have to be made also with the planet in mind.

What have we in The Fumbally learnt from all of this?

* Don’t follow trends. Make up your own mind and inform yourself of all of the options before jumping on the bandwagon of something that seems to be the answer (compostable packaging in mind here).

* Keep asking questions. 2 or 3 questions on where something has come from and how it has been made may not be enough. You may need to ask 8 or 9 questions before you get to the reality.

* Some things have significantly larger impact than others eg. eating meat vs disposable coffee cups. We all only have so much energy and if we want to make a difference, channel that energy into the right places that have the impact that you desire.