Events

Nov 09 2024

Feeding Knowledge: Nurturing a Deeper Connection with Our Food

In a world where children are increasingly disconnected from the origins of their food, Feeding Knowledge brings together a panel of experts to discuss the critical importance of reconnecting the next generation with where their food comes from. This thought-provoking discussion will explore the role of food education, sustainable practices, and how we can inspire children to understand and appreciate the journey from farm to plate.

Panel Discussion Features:

• Darina Allen – Founder of Ballymaloe Cookery School, renowned advocate for food education
• Conor Spacey – Culinary Director at Food Space, expert in sustainable food systems
• Dr. Michelle Darmody – Award-winning writer specializing in food culture and education

Moderator:

• Jacinta Dalton – Head of Department for Culinary Arts & Service Industries at The Atlantic Technological University, Galway, Ireland

A bit about the Speakers

Darina Allen

Darina Allen, Ballymaloe Cookery School, Shanagarry, Co. Cork Co-founder of the famous Ballymaloe Cookery School in 1983 and more recently the Ballymaloe Organic Farm School in East Cork, Ireland. Students come from all over the world to hone their culinary skills at this sustainable, biodiverse Farm-to-Table project.

Founder member of the Irish Farmers’ Market Movement, East Cork Slow Food Convivia Leader, Chair of Artisan Food Forum, Farming for Nature Ambassador.  Weekly food columnist in the Weekend Section of the Irish Examiner. Author of 21 bestselling cookbooks and André Simon Award winner. Received the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award from Listowel Food Fair and Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the year in 2001.

Conor Spacey

Conor has been involved in the food industry for over 35 years. During his years as a chef, Conor has always had a passion for local seasonal food. Local to Conor is food that is grown, produced or farmed within 50 miles of his kitchens. But that not being enough Conor has always questioned what is the future of food? and how can we feed the planet sustainably. Over the last sixteen years he has deep dived into sustainability and our broken food system. Conor is known for questioning everything in the food industry and never satisfied that chefs are doing enough for the food system and planet. Conor’s investigations into our food system includes the dark side of the business from child labour, deforestation, corporate controls and many more What has always been the norm in professional kitchens has been turned on its head. Conor has removed practices that are unsustainable and is one of the industry leaders in zero waste kitchens. Most recently Conor’s work has also led to collaborate the setup of the Chefs Manifesto. Conor is one of the co-authors in collaboration with the United Nations sustainable development goals to implement change and putting chefs center to fixing a global food system. This has grown to over 1,200 chefs across 100 countries and work with many NGO’s to make real change. Conor has received many accolades for his work in sustainability and attends many events globally for pop-ups, talks and demos including Paris, Rome, Milan, London, Lisbon, Dubai, Canada, Spain, Germany aswell as Ireland. You can also catch him on Virgin Medias Six O’Clock show showcasing zero waste meals. At the beginning of 2024 Conor received a notable award from the Irish Writers Guild for his long contribution to Irish food throughout his career and the 2024 Producers Champion award from Blas Na hEireann. He’s latest project is building an off the grid cookery school and farm in The Gambia, a total closed loop system it will educate communities, bring in incomes and upskill for employment in the hospitality industry. Conor’s first book Wasted was published in July 2023 as part of the fantastic Blasta Books. And is now putting pen to paper again on his second book

Dr Michelle Darmody

Award winning writer Dr Michelle Darmody is the author of Seed to Supper, the journey of your food from the ground up. The book aims to help children become better engaged with where their food comes from, by breaking down every stage of food’s journey. Beginning with a seed to delicious plates of food, Dr Michelle encourages children to not only learn how to grow, buy and cook food, but how what we eat affects our planet. The book stems from her PhD, which focused on environmental food education for children and her research projects have won RETHINK Ireland Social Innovation funding.

Michelle founded internationally acclaimed bakeries The Cake Café and Slice and established Our Table, a social enterprise supporting people living in direct provision. Over the past year Michelle has been using her expertise to inspire and motivate communities to grow their own food and promote food security in Irish neighbourhoods through a climate action project entitled Our Shared Plate.

Michelle’s extensive knowledge of the sustainability and the food landscape also stems from the creation of large-scale events tackling climate change, such as Eat the Streets, for Dublin City Council and Summer Rising, for IMMA. Michelle is not only a regular commentator for Irish media, but her work has also featured in international publications, such as Vogue, Condé Nast Travel and Leisure, and Time Magazine. She has judged MasterChef and been featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and the Food Network in the US.

Jacinta Dalton

Jacinta Dalton is Head of Department for Culinary Arts & Service Industries at The Atlantic Technological University, Galway, Ireland and is a member of the Irish Food Champion Assembly. She is an advocate for food education, innovation and community engagement for knowledge exchange and sustainability, consulting with food producers, and assisting with a number of food events and festivals in a voluntary capacity. Jacinta is currently undertaking a Doctorate at the Basque Culinary Centre, where she is researching the impacts of public food procurement on sustainable education and is working on an Erasmus project with European partners on the development of digital and sustainability skills for Tourism SME’s. Jacinta is a board member at the Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts & Tourism (IGCAT).