Why do we craft gardens, feasts & escapes that nourish people & the planet? Well, it starts with pollinators, potatoes & package holidays!
The WWF released a harrowing report in 2018 revealing that in just the last 40 years, the world has seen a 60% decline in wildlife populations1 with insects alone, being driven to extinction at a rate 8 times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. A study published last year2 showed that more than 40% of insect species are in decline and a third endangered. Why’s this such a problem? Well, 75% of the food we eat relies on pollinators of which most of these are insects. They form an essential part of the food web & their loss not only threatens our food supply but also a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems” globally. Why the decline? The main driver of the ‘insect apocalypse’ as its become known is down to the overuse of pesticides as well as habitat loss due to urbanisation & climate change.
Coupled with this, the ‘green and pleasant’ land we call home, bursting with life & a bounty of fresh local produce blinds us to some uncomfortable truths – Ireland currently imports 90% of its food, including our favourite – the humble spud. 72,000 tonnes to be exact were flown or ferried in in 2017, despite having the perfect conditions to grow our own here. This also goes for onions, cabbage and lettuce of which we imported an eye-watering 85,000 tonnes in one year alone5. The soils that supports the growing of what spuds are produced here and indeed all our other food is precious. It takes 1,000 years for 1cm of topsoil to develop. This topsoil in turn supports a quarter of the planet’s biodiversity & helps us combat and adapt to climate change by storing carbon and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. However, despite its vital role, every 5 seconds, the equivalent of one soccer field is swept away by soil erosion3 and in the last 150 years, half the topsoil on the planet has been lost4.
With the advent of cheap flights and package deals, it’s become so easy to jump on a plane to a Costa somewhere sunny to get some R&R but what if you could leave your troubles behind & escape to a nourishing world away a little closer to home? As well as saving time & money on flights, choosing a staycation is choosing to support local livelihoods, producers & most of all reduce your fossil fuel footprint.
So what have, pollinators, potatoes & package holidays got in common!? They are keys to positive & lasting changes you can quickly make happen in your life & we’re here to help by re-imagining gardens, feasts & escapes as forces for good. We craft biodiverse & resilient gardens that taste as good and they look – feeding you and your family for years to come as well as creating a lasting home for local wildlife; we re-think how & what flavours can be grown locally that will support a future for people & planet & lastly for those needing some time out, nourishing spaces to escape to & be inspired by.
References:
1: https://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/all_publications/living_planet_report_2018/
2: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320718313636
3: https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/soil-erosion-and-degradation
4: https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1052831
5: https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-ti/irelandstradeingoods2017/food2017/
