Irish chefs call on food lovers to sign People4Soil petition
The Happy Pear restaurant founders Dave and Steve Flynn, and other famous Irish restaurateurs and chefs, including Darina Allen and Garrett Fitzgerald of Brother Hubbard, are calling on all food lovers to add their signature to the People4Soil petition to save our soil.
The campaign calls for the European Commission to pass a Soil Directive to safeguard European soils. Hundreds of thousands of people across Europe have already signed, and the Irish branch of People4Soil now has the second highest percentage sign up rate across Europe, thanks to the efforts of famous faces, including The Happy Pear brothers.
Speaking about why the campaign is so important, the restaurateurs explained, "We have a farm where we grow our own fruit and veg and soil is at the root of everything. So many minerals like calcium and nutrients like vitamin B12 come directly from the soil, if we degrade the soil we're degrading our own nutrition and our own health and happiness really.
Darina Allen also commented, “Each and every one of us totally depends on the four or five inches of soil around the globe for our very existence. Remember, if we don't have rich and fertile soil, we won't have good food and we won't have clean water. So let's stop treating soil like dirt."
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in the absence of an EU Soils Directive, "the challenge remains to ensure a consistent approach to protecting and managing our limited soil resource".
The need for strong European legislation is especially clear in light of a recent report funded by the European Commission itself. The report outlines the lack of a coherent strategic policy framework for soil conservation in Europe and a general lack of action across EU member states.
The report also indicated the lack of common definitions of soil status across EU member states, which has led to further difficulties in establishing European-wide targets and priorities for soil conservation.
Ireland needs 8,250 signatures before 12 September 2017 to pass the European Citizen's Initiative petition.
Source: www.businessworld.ie
