Autumn is orchard season – an ideal time to make a commitment to buy Irish apples. This island was once a major apple producer, growing thousands of tons of Bramley cookers for the British market, but when import tariffs were removed in the 1970s, apple growers could no longer compete with foreign imports and production of dessert apples dropped from 10,400 tonnes in 1975 to 3,500 tonnes currently.
We now import 95 per cent of our apples from places such as South Africa, New Zealand, Chile and France, despite the fact all of them could be grown here. We spend €100 million on apples annually that could all go towards supporting sustainable and biodiverse regenerative farming, if the will was there in government to shift from our self-destructive dependence on beef and dairy farming. There are only 40 apple and pear growers in the Republic of Ireland, but their produce is well distributed and can be found in many supermarkets and greengrocers, if we take the trouble to look and ask. The Irish Apple Growers Association alongside a few pioneering individuals in Teagasc, Bord Bia and the Department of Agriculture are keen to establish more orchards, but they need to know that there’s a demand from consumers for Irish fruit.
It’s clear that our current farming practises cannot continue, as the excessive nitrates released by slurry and fertilisers are harming water quality and soil integrity, not to mention the lethal carbon emissions from cattle. Furthermore, the world does not need more beef or milk and, in fact, our excessive consumption of them is harming human health. The majority of Irish milk is exported as infant formula to developing countries, where Irish-backed campaigns convince mothers of its benefits over breast milk. Farming needs to change, and we can do our bit to help foster more sustainable forms of agriculture by committing to buying only Irish apples, pears and plums this autumn.
Air and soil quality
If managed properly, Irish orchards can improve air quality, improve soil fertility and play a key role in sequestering carbon in the soil and in trees. Orchards that are not overly treated with chemicals can provide homes to more endangered species than even some designated nature reserves. They offer many of the ecological benefits of woodland, while also providing pasture between the trees, which can be used as sheltered, fertile grazing for livestock.
If you were suitably inspired, you could go a step further and actually plant your own apple tree, or ideally two – a reliable, heavy-cropping eater and a traditional cooker. This will ensure your apple consumption entails zero carbon emissions for transport, zero packaging and probably zero watering. The carbon footprint of packaging and transporting apples from abroad can be considerable, while vast amounts of water from limited aquifers are used to nourish most imported fruit.
Having apple trees growing in your garden or in your community will also improve the air quality and support an array of beneficial insects and micro-organisms. It allows you an opportunity to try rare and delicious varieties that are not suitable for commercial growing, and will give you an enhanced sense of how the cosmetic perfection of an apple skin bares no relation to how it tastes. It may make you more tolerant of imperfect fruit and vegetables in shops, so that retailers don’t feel the need to discard blemished produce and farmers won’t feel obliged to spray extra chemicals to ensure entirely, blemish-free fruit.
Of course, planting a tree or buying a few Irish apples isn’t going to change the system overnight. Converting Irish cattle farms to horticulture will take significant investment in training and financing for new equipment and replanting. But the benefits are obvious – a report completed at the University of Limerick has shown that apples are the only carbon-sequestering food crop currently being grown in Ireland, and their sequestering ability is almost as much as forestry. It’s a grand vision, but it’s a realisable one, and, starting this autumn we can all play our small part in it.
