Bell to speak at Slow Food Festival

This year’s Burren Slow Food Festival will feature a public talk from Alexander Bell, former BBC journalist and author of Peak Water: Civilisation and the World’s Water Crisis.
Mr Bell is one of the world’s leading advocates on water issues and will speak on the importance of Ireland’s water resource to the future success and sustainability of food production.
“We hope that this event will attract a lot of public interest and highlight the important relationship between food and water,” explained one of the festival organisers.
The foundation of Mr Bell’s talk is that all food contains one common ingredient, water and that this critical ingredient is becoming increasingly hard to get.
Water scarcity affects 44% of the world’s population and Ireland has one of the richest water resources in the world, which combined with the climate and fertile soil makes it one of the best food-producing regions in the world.
In areas short of water, the water needed for food production competes with the demand for drinking water in growing urban populations, driving these economies to source their food from regions with enough water to produce it.
Mr Bell will speak about managing Ireland’s water resource in order to sustain a future as one of the world’s leading food-producing nations.
Organisers hope that the talk will raise awareness among people to better appreciate the valuable resource and to use it to promote Ireland’s food credentials.
The title of the talk is Water – Ireland’s Most Valuable Food Ingredient and is even more topical following the recent announcement by the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley that domestic water charges will be introduced next year.
The annual Burren Slow Food Festival at The Pavillion Theatre in Lisdoonvarna takes place from Friday, May 21, to Sunday, May 23.
There will be a guest appearance by Darina Allen of the Ballymaloe Cookery School and John and Sally McKenna from the Bridgestone Guide.
As well as a giant farmers’ market, there will also be a slow food café, barbeques, organic produce, a céilí, face painting, plate painting and traditional music.
Cookery demonstrations for children and adults will also take place with demonstrations from Aidan McGrath from the Wild Honey Inn, John Sheedy from Sheedy’s Country House Hotel, Michael Viljanen from Gregan’s Castle and Bunratty Cookery School’s Donnagh Gregson.
For more information on the festival, visit www.slowfoodclare.com.