Research from Bord Bia shows that two in every three Irish people incorrectly assume that potatoes used for chips in Irish chippers come from Ireland.
In fact, the vast majority of chipping potatoes are imported into Ireland each year.
Today (Friday, October 7) is National Potato Day, and Bord Bia is encouraging consumes to ensure that the chips they eat, either at home or from chip shops, are locally grown.
Bord Bia, Teagasc, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine have, in recent years, attempted to increase the volume of home-grown potatoes being produced by Irish growers for sale in Irish chip shops.
As part of this year’s National Potato Day, Bord Bia is highlighting to consumers the value for money that potatoes offer.
The food promotion body is sharing various tips and recipes on its website and Twitter page today.
Starting this week, Romayo’s, the Italian-Irish chain of 21 traditional chip shops around Dublin, will engage in a pilot project to display the Bord Bia quality mark to call out their local, Quality Assured potato suppliers Paud Flynn & Sons, who have been farming in north Dublin for over 100 years.
According to Teagasc, Irish potato production has decreased from around 332,000ha in 1850 to just over 9,000ha today.
Our annual average potato consumption is 85kg/person, two-and-a-half times higher than the world average. However, in the 1990s, this figure was around 140kg/person.
The FA has also called on consumers, retailers, packers , and the food service sector to support local potato growers.
Tim Cullinan, the association’s president, said today that is has been “an extremely difficult year for growers with spiraling input costs, consumption trends from the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, and drought conditions”.
“The Irish potato industry is a critical indigenous sector worth €111 million at the farm gate… Potato growers supply high quality, nutritious produce to consumers throughout the year.”
Sean Ryan, the IFA’s potato chairperson, commented: “Growers are resilient, but there is only so much they can take.
“Unfortunately, the number of potato growers has been in decline, with more growers weighing up their options in the current environment,” Ryan added.
He called for growers to be compensated for the cost of production already foregone for the year’s crop and storage costs, and for additional margins for potatoes to be “passed directly to growers immediately”.