Ella McSweeney's posts

#brussels #parisattacks #refugeecrisis #refugees #brusselsattacks #Molenbeek

#brussels #parisattacks #afghanistan #refugeecrisis #refugees

Wendell Berry reads part of Welsh poet RS Thomas' poem "Lore" #wendellberry #rsthomas #ellamcsweeney #farming #poetry #poems #wales

Wendell Berry reads his poem "The Peace of Wild Things" while sitting in his house in Henry County, Kentucky. Recorded as part of BBC Radio 4 doc on Berry for The Food Programe - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b066tk2c #wendellberry #kentucky #poetry #poems #farming #food #ellamcsweeney #bbc #bbcradio4 #fooodprogramme

Wendell Berry has been described as 'An American Hero' but his work and teaching have inspired and influenced leaders, writers and campaigners around the world. Ella McSweeney had no hesitation in choosing him as her 'Food Hero' and travels to meet him at his farm in Kentucky. She explains why his work affected her so profoundly, even thousands of miles away in Ireland. As a leading and respected farmer, writer, campaigner, philosopher and poet, he wrote that "Eating is an agricultural act" yet argues we have become disconnected from the land by the industrialisation of the food chain, that the growth of agribusiness has driven many small farms out of business with a loss of their 'moral fibre and wisdom' and is destroying rural communities. He argues we must acknowledge the impact of agriculture to society. Yet despite his widespread influence he lives at a different pace to the majority - using horses to work the land and refusing to get a computer. For those unfamiliar with his work Ella will explain just how significant he's been on politicians and game-changers and, for those who know him already, a chance to hear his thoughts on how to feed ourselves without destroying the land and plant we have. Ella also visits the city of Louisville to see how people are putting his thoughts into action in projects that provide access to fresh food and but also unite communities otherwise divided. Presented by Ella McSweeney Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock. #bbc #bbcradio4 #ellamcsweeney #wendellberry #farming #food #louisville #america #foodpolitics #foodpolicy #kentucky

sound of weanling sale at ballina mart, co. mayo

Ella hears from the Irish who are involved in the food business in New York - Pat Coleman who runs Food Ireland near the Bronnx. #rtecountrywide #rteradio1 #rte #radio #newyork #irishfood #ireland #irish #farming #food #butter #foodireland #ellamcsweeney #damienoreilly

#ireland #irish #pigs #pig #food #farming #irishfarming #irishfarmers #carlow #irishpigsociety #irishpigs #breed #pig #pork #rte #rteradio #rteradio1 #countrywide #rtecountrywide #damienoreilly #ellamcsweeney

Ella meets dairy farmer & cheese producer Keeley Mc Garr of Keeley's Cheese Company in New York (www.keeleyscheeseco.com) and hears how Ireland inspired her, and how @cornell university is helping her develop her products. (For RTE Radio 1's Countrywide)

With rising levels of obesity in Ireland, particularly among younger people, should a fast food restaurant be allowed to be built beside a school? That's the question that residents of Navan are facing with the news that a fast food outlet has been given planning permission beside a secondary and primary school in the town, despite objections by both schools and the HSE, among others. The principal of St Joseph's school has now appealed to An Bord Pleanala. The development will bring with it 40 jobs and there are people who support it. Ella McSweeney travelled to Navan to hear from all sides… RTE Radio 1's Countrywide #rte #rteradio #radio #obesity #schools #fastfood

Charles Smith set up 'Farmers to Market' - a collective of 12 commercial free-range chicken farmers in Monaghan and Cavan. But in

Kildare farmer Paul Brophy is a commercial broccoli grower. Here he shows Ella McSweeney how his broccoli is grown, harvested and packaged, and explains why the future of vegetable growing in Ireland is about scale.

19th century (anon) Irish poem that references fraughans, as read by Ed Hick

Report for BBC Farming Today with contributions from Teagasc head, Prof Gerry Boyle, and Roscommon farmer Brian Costello #bbcradio4 #farmingtoday #bbcradio #bbc #ellamcsweeney #farming #food #dairy #cows #milk #farm #uk #ireland #roscommon #land #teagasc #farmers #milkquotas #capreform #cap

Presented by Ella McSweeney. By 2050 the population of the world is expected to grow to over 9 billion and proponents of "vertical farming" believe growing food in cities would use less land and resources than traditional outdoor methods, reduce transport costs and fossil-fuel emissions. As vertical farms start to spring up in Sweden, Vancouver and the Netherlands, Ella McSweeney investigates whether they could provide a cost-effective solution that will increase yields or if it is just another example of head in the clouds utopian thinking. Prod: Clare Walker. #bbcradio4 #bbc #farming #food #verticalfarming #manchester #netherlands #cornell #columbia #newyork #bbcradio #ellamcsweeney

Bacteria aren’t always fussy about where to settle down and multiply; the gut of a human, a pig or a cow will do nicely. But they’re not the only thing we share with farm animals. When the bacteria turn nasty, we use many of the same antibiotics to treat our infections. We know that antibiotic resistance is a problem. “One of the most serious public health challenges we face”, says the head of the European Centre for Disease Prevention & Control, Dr Marc Sprenger. Hardly a surprise, given that it kills 25,000 Europeans each year. The European Commission wants to do something about this. They published a plan in 2011. Half of the actions address use of antibiotics on farms. But it turns out that we know little about antibiotic use on Irish farms, because the Department of Agriculture does not collect the information. Ella McSweeney has written on this issue for the Irish Times (below) and she joined RTE Radio 1's Pat Kenny to discuss... Irish Times article - http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2013/0225/1224330475957.html #rte #rteradio #rteradio1 #ellamcsweeney #antibiotics #farming #food #farmers #pigs #poultry

Ex-Department vet, Paddy Kirwan, says that Veterinary Ireland (the representative body for vets) called on Department of Agriculture to set up a centralised database of horses in Ireland back in 2010.

Ireland's Chief Veterinary Officer, Martin Blake, tells Damien O'Reilly on RTE's Countrywide that the Department of Agriculture does not know the number of horses in the country.

Tullamore beef farmer John Cleary expresses his shock and anger about the recent horseburger saga in Ireland

Stephen Philpott of the Ulster Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals talks about the illegal horse meat trade in Ireland & the UK.

Ella speaks with dairy farmer David Tiernan on his Co. Louth farm about why he sells raw milk; she also talks with the head of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Prof Alan Reilly, who believes the sale of it should be prohibited. (for BBC Radio 4's Farming Today). #bbcradio4 #farmingtoday #bbc #bbcradio #ellamcsweeney #milk #rawmilk #farmers #farming #food

Raw, unpasteurised milk is legal to sell in Ireland. For years, the Department of Agriculture & the Food Safety Authority of Ireland have insisted that they will ban the sale of raw milk. They now say they will introduce legislation for regulated sales. Prof Alan Reilly is head of FSAI.

Alo Mohan, a poultry farmer from Cavan, tells Ella why poultry farmers are in crisis. She also talks to poultry processor, Vincent Carton. (RTE Radio 1's farming and food series, Countrywide, presented by Damien O'Reilly)

In the early 1990s, there were 1,000 abattoirs in Ireland. Today, that number is just 200. One farmer who is bucking the trend is Galway's Ronan Byrne, a poultry farmer, who will open his new abattoir next week. Ronan's blog - http://thefriendlyfarmer.blogspot.ie

Galway poultry farmer Ronan Byrne has built a new on-farm abattoir. He will use it to finish 200 chickens a week, along with his pasture-reared turkeys, geese and ducks.

A tree packed full of gregarious starlings in the village of Tarbert, Co. Kerry. (image by the Irish artist Vincent Sheridan - http://www.print.ie/detail.php?category_id=3&id=192)

Irish farmers protesting in Portlaoise talk to Ella about the problems they are experiencing at the moment. For Farming Today @bbcradio4

Tom is a young full time dairy farmer in East Cork. He talks to Ella (for BBC Radio 4's Farming Today show) and tells her why the Irish Farmers Association should not be protesting on the streets of Dublin today.

Dr Seán Mac an tSaoir tells Ella about the Armagh Bramley apple

Alo Mohan is a chicken farmer in Cavan. He tells Ella why he fears for the future of Irish poultry sector. (For RTE Radio 1's Countrywide programme - www.rte.ie/radio1/countrywide)

Pig paternity tests are being used to fight meat mislabelling in Ireland. After three years of work the Irish Farmers Association has set up a pig DNA database which will be used to spot check pork and bacon. Ella McSweeney travels to Tipperary to meet pig farmer Tim Cullinan who spearheaded the project.

It's been a dreadful year for many apple varieties. The cold spring and wet summer has resulted in a decimated eating crop across most of the country. There are 40 commercial apple growers in Ireland - it’s a sector with a retail value of Euro 17 million - and their crop is set to be down by 50% on 2011. So what is going on? Ella McSweeney travelled to Tipperary to visit Cornelius Traas’ commercial apple farm just outside of Cahir to see how his eating crop has faired and to find out why this year has been such an awful one for apples...

Cornelius Traas, a commercial apple farmer from Tipperary (http://www.theapplefarm.com), says Ireland's apple crop will be severely reduced this season.

Irish pig farmer Tim Cullinan talks to Ella about the pressures pig farmers are under because of rising feed costs. He says it's time a supermarket ombudsman be appointed in Ireland.

Farmer Tim Cullinan on his farm near Moneygall in Ireland.

A 'mini-cow' breed that stands at just 4 feet in height and thrives on poor quality upland areas, is making a comeback in Ireland. The Dexter breed is native to the country but until recent years, numbers were very low. One of the farmers who's rejuvenating this breed is Dr. Steve Collins from Bedfordshire. He spent most of his life working on humanitarian projects in Africa . Today, he lives on a remote 140 acre farm in West Cork. I travelled high up into the mountains to meet him and his herd of little Dexter cows.

GM crop trials have been given the go-ahead in Ireland. Ella McSweeney travels to Teagasc (Ireland's semi-state agricultural authority) where the trials will be conducted. She talks to scientist Dr John Spink http://www.agresearch.teagasc.ie/oakpark who shows her the site where the GM potatoes will be planted. She also talks to Gillian Westbrook @gillianiofga of http://iofga.org and Wicklow farmer Michael Keegan http://www.waterfallfarm.ie/ @waterfallfarm

Wicklow dairy farmer Aidan Harney @ballymorefarm opens the gates of his sheds and watches as his herd of cows run out to the fields for the first time in four months...

Aidan tells Ella about his week old Ayrshire calf and explains how farming is going for him at the moment

It's only the females who give goat milk; in commercial goat herds, the males are usually killed at birth because they are surplus to requirement. Two years ago, Westmeath farmer Claudia Marl decided to test the market for goat meat: she kept the males and sold the meat to a Dublin butcher. In tonight's Ear to the Ground, Ella meets Claudia to hear her story. According to Teagasc, the potential for goat meat for export is there.