Do Small Changes Make a Difference?

by Kenneth Keavey

When I was younger, I believed that by convincing my parents to recycle glass bottles and joining Green Peace that we would make a difference, I was utterly convinced, I never doubted it for a second, I knew the planet was precious and that our changes made a difference.

All young children have a connection with nature and they believe they can do anything, what happens as we grow up? Why do we lose that sense of value for the natural world that we had as children? 

When we started the farm, I believed growing sustainable food would change the planet, and that all we needed was a tractor, some seeds and we would have a successful farm. 

At times on this journey, there has been disillusionment, pressure and stress, the fighting to do the right thing when it seemed it was all going against us. But ultimately, we stayed the course and stuck to our principles. 

I am not sure how long it normally takes, but it took (and continues to take) a long time to realise that no one change in isolation changes anything. Real change and success is built on lots and lots of little things done consistently over time.

This is as true for building a new habit as it is for fixing the planet.

So maybe one by one and little by little all our changes taken together can effect real change. Maybe your choice to plant a tree, to avoid weed killer, or to tell your kids about biodiversity and educate them in the beauty and preciousness of nature contribute to real positive change.

By buying from us you are effecting real change, you are choosing a different way to eat and are supporting serious changes behind the scenes. You are supporting your health, and the planet, sustainable food production and a new system of growing and selling food.

Your choice to support us means you are one of a community that are choosing a new and better way to eat, you are supporting farming and food for a better planet.

Does it matter? Does it matter that you support a zero-waste circular economy, a sustainable means of growing food and a better food future, does that matter?

Well in my book that does matter it matters a lot.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
― Margaret Mead 

Thank you for your support.

Kenneth

PS We deliver nationwide, explore our range here.

Small Sustainable Swaps – Plastic Packaging

by Liz Child

Did you make any sustainable new years resolutions?

Resolutions are a nice idea but often it’s impossible to stick to a big, drastic change. So we suggest making a series of small sustainable swaps, they all add up. Here’s how we can help with one area – plastic packaging. Choosing to buy products without petrochemical based plastics sends a clear message to big companies and producers, there is a better way!

Our fruits and vegetables are delivered plastic free, nationwide to every address in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and we use compostable bags for things like salad and spinach leaves that need that extra protection. If you are on one of our local routes (in green on the map below) then we collect and re-use the cardboard boxes too! Some of our deliveries are with a courier company (in orange on the map below) so we can’t collect those boxes yet unfortunately, but they are compostable or recyclable so please dispose of them responsibly.

As well as our fresh produce, we deliver organic groceries and we are always looking at the most sustainable options. We have a growing plastic free aisle and here are a few of our favourites from the plastic free swaps we’ve been making recently.

Herbs and Spices – Plastic Free Refills

Sonnentor are our new herb and spice supplier. We love the organic contents of course, they are high quality and full of amazing flavour to make our dishes sing. But we are also really impressed with the packaging. The contents are protected in clever, compostable bags and then packaged in lovely sustainably sourced cardboard boxes. Read more about Sonnentor here. Add some of our selection to your next order here.

Grains, Pulses, Dried Fruit, Nuts and Seeds – Refills (in compostable bags)

We now have a really useful range of nuts, seeds, dried fruit and grains in compostable bags. Perfect for refilling jars in your kitchen. We love having big jars of ingredients like these visible in our kitchen, they remind us to cook from scratch and have healthy snack bowls. The clear visibility makes writing a shopping list of what we are running low on easy! Check out our range here and here.

Plastic Free Teas

Did you know that most tea bags contain plastic? Not good for us and certainly not good for our compost bins! We stock a lovely selection of plastic free, organic teas here.

Chocolate!

Chocolate is a bit of a sustainability minefield. Cocoa production is linked to child labour, slavery, deforestation, and low wages. So how can concerned chocolate lovers make the most sustainable and ethical purchases? As well as researching different brands on their cocoa sourcing, choose bars with biodegradable packaging. For example, our Vivani bars are wrapped in a protective, compostable film which performs like regular plastic. It is made from sustainably sourced wood fibres. The paper and cardboard packaging is also FSC® certified and printed using mineral oil-free inks. Check out our sustainable chocolates here.

Eco Toiletries

Switching to bamboo toothbrushes and shampoo bars is an easy way to massively cut down your plastic consumption in the bathroom. We are really impressed with our shampoo bars, they smell incredible and really work! Check out our eco toiletries here.