Here is the full text of the article I had in the The Examiner last week, on the Feile Bia pullout by the chef's organisation Eurotoques. (I also had a side bar on what Eurotoques do and promote, but I won't include that here. Instead, why not have a look at their site youself? Link at end of article.)
�Naturally, we�re very disappointed�. So say�s Aidan Cotter, chief executive of Bord Bia, on the fact that Euro-toques Ireland have pulled out of the Feile Bia Scheme.
So he should be. Euro-toques Ireland represent some of Ireland�s highest profile chefs. Amongst their 200 members includes Nevin McGuire of McNean�s bistro, Darina Allen of Ballymaloe House and Ross Lewis of Chapter One. The organisation, as the name suggests, are a pan-European one, with over 3,500 members throughout Europe. As in the Irish situation, the membership includes many of the most highly regarded chefs in each country. This is reflected in the fact that the organisation was founded by chef Pierre Romeyer chef from Belgium�s Le Maison de Bouche, itself a three-star Michelin star restaurant.
What makes the withdrawal all the more noteworthy is the fact that the aims of Euro-toques seem, on the face of it, to chime with those of Bird Bia and the Feile Bia scheme in particular. Euro-toques aim to support culinary traditions and quality food. And Bord Bia are the Irish food board, who promote and market Irish food. According to Bord Bia: �Central to the F�ile Bia concept is that members source the maximum amount of freshly available produce. In addition to promoting traceability, F�ile Bia aims to encourage sourcing from artisan producers and small butchers and highlighting this supplier information on menus�.
Indeed Feile Bia was a joint initiative in the early days. Brid Torrades currently runs and chefs in two establishments in Sligo: the Atrium caf� in the Model Arts Centre and Osta caf� and wine bar. Brid has been a commissioner with Euro-toques, and was so when the Feile Bia concept was first mooted:
�Feile Bia was actually a Euro-toques initiative. It came from fete de la cuisine in Europe, which was to bring our culinary heritage back to everybody�. Brid suggests that they, Euro-toques, gathered the relevant players together, including Bord Bia. Following a brainstorming session, the name Feile Bia was settled upon.
According to Brid, Feile Bia was supposed to �support and save our local producers and through them our culinary heritage and raw materials. We felt that the original Feile Bia did just that while at the same time encouraging chefs and hotels who would not have before then considered this idea to do so.�
From then on, Euro-toques claim, Feile Bia has moved away from this position. According to their letter of withdrawl, the Feile Bia tagline change from �A celebration of Irish Food� to �a celebration of quality food� and then �certified farm to fork� is indicative of the move towards traceability scheme support and bureaucratisation.
�Feile Bia is now essentially a traceability scheme, which favours larger suppliers and larger catering operations, who can bear the burden and cost of increased bureaucracy. As traceability legislation already exists, and Euro-toques members conform to this and go far beyond it, a scheme which essentially only guarantees traceability is superfluous and only adds to the growing bureaucracy which food businesses are now subject to�.
They also suggest that their own guidelines �go much further than Feile Bia. We aspire to sourcing in season, locally, with sustainable agriculture practices and good animal husbandry; elements which cannot be guaranteed by a �Quality Assurance Scheme�. Furthermore, we believe that people should have the freedom to produce and supply quality food without being forced to be part of any scheme which may contribute to the high costs and bureaucracy which are already crippling so many producers.�
Another major issue for Euro-toques is GM. As the letter of withdrawal states: �We also have serious concerns�about the use of GM feeds in the production of meat and dairy in Ireland. We are not be happy to endorse a branding which �quality assures� such products�.
I put these concerns to Aidan Cotter, chief executive of Bord Bia. I asked him about Feile Bia and the Quality Assurance scheme: ��.the principle condition is that it has to be based on Quality Assurance�we have to have Quality Assurance as a platform on which to promote in order to stay on the right side of state aid rules.�
He also suggested Quality Assurance is about more than just safely, its about broader issues too, such as environmental health (e.g. salt levels in pork) and animal welfare.
In relation to the small producer, Aidan suggested that �We do believe that it supports small producers�. He also pointed out that the scheme itself does not cost money to join and mentions that it supports both small and large producers. Also, Bord Bia do promotional work for small producers, including the new launch of a centre of excellence to support these producers.
I then put some of these points to Lorcan Cribben, commissioner-general of Euro-toques Ireland. According to Lorcan, �it�s not difficult if you have money. If you are making a nominal amount of money, and then someone comes in and tells you to upgrade your production, and it�s going to cost twenty of thirty grand, more and more people are falling by the wayside because they can�t afford to do it.�
I also spoke to a small-scale producer. Ann O� Donovan supplies eggs to Brid Torrades. Ann�s main issues with Feile Bia are bureaucratic: the amount of hassle, paperwork, inspections and the like that the scheme would involve make it unattractive for her. Especially in a situation where she has no need or desire to upscale her production.
Ann, who just keeps 600 hens, is already overburdened with inspections: �We�d a batch of hens in May, and within 4 days we�d an inspector out. The department sent the inspector out to check the hens. Then another one checks the facilities. Another checks the feed. Possibly another for the packing house. Jan 2008, we�ll have to send away samples of hen manure for salmonella. The amount of paperwork we have means we employ an accountant. We don�t want to get in any deeper. I can�t see Feile Bia being any advantage to us - our customers have come through word of mouth�.
Brid was one such customer, who found Ann�s eggs at the local farmers� markets in Sligo: �the farmers� market has been a great outlet. I�ve got restaurants through that�.
So it seems that, from the small producer�s prespective, even if something doesn�t technically cost money, there are still costs involved. Time is money - time spent filing in forms, sending off samples and being inspected is time not doing all the other work you need to be doing, the work that actually makes money. So sometimes the only way to keep up with the regulations and bureaucratisation is to upscale production.
On GM, Euro-toques claimed that they �wrote to Bord Bia about these concerns in March last year and the response we received from Chief Executive Aidan Cotter was that �the production conditions for Irish beef are fully transparent and I am satisfied that the product continues to enjoy a strong, positive image and the full confidence of customers in the European Union, who now represent 93% of our beef export market�.�. They suggested in their withdrawal letter that �This is blatantly untrue, as few consumers are aware of the use of GM feeds in Irish food production.�
So I put this point to Aidan Cotter of Bord Bia: �what they say is correct: most consumers don�t know that most animals are fed feed that happens to be GM. It�s not deliberately GM, but it just so happens that so much of the maize and soya beans that comes across from the US and south America is GM and is not segregated. So farmers tend not to have a choice. That goes not just for Ireland, but also the UK and contintental Europe. So consumers in Europe are choosing meat locally, whether in France or Italy, that is generally fed on the same feed animals are fed on in Ireland. So when I say conditions are transparent, what I mean is that the conditions of production in Italy or France or wherever are the same, but our animals are fed to a greater extent on grassland�.
I put it to Aidan that, according to our new Food minister, this may involve a risk of the market: if consumers found out about this feed, they might be concerned. �If there is a risk, that risk is shared by all meat producers throughout Europe. Would consumers have a problem with it? We don�t know. But we have close relations with 40 retailers around Europe� and we�ve asked many of them for their view in regard to GM feed; we asked them would they be interested in a source of GM free beef products, and their answer is no.�
So consumers don�t know, and retailers are to an extent representing consumers to those who represent food producers. This retailer feedback is interesting, in a context where large retailers often claim to be GM free in their own label products, because of consumer feedback: According to Tesco, �our policy on Genetically Modified (GM) foods is driven by the view of our customers. They continue to tell us that they are not yet convinced of the benefits of GM. We do not therefore have any own-brand GM foods on our shelves�.
It is also the case that there is a body of research, including research by Teagasc, to suggest that the majority of consumers do not want GM foods.
The GM debate will obviously roll on, but Feile Bia will have to carry on without the support of the Euro-toques organisation. Last word with Lorcan Cribben: �if you do let all these artisan producers slip through the net, in 10-15 years time, Ireland will be a far poorer place for it�.
for more on Euro-toques click here....you didn't did you? click back there, on the blue word...eurotoques....
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