The Sustainable Skerries Food Festival in 2021

As the saying goes: Every little helps. Every small decision, every step towards a more sustainable future.

For instance: Food can play a massive role in drawing down carbon from our atmosphere, and thus helping in the fight against climate change. If everyone ate a little more “slowly” (seasonal, local, organic, waste-minimising: S.L.O.W.), there would be a noticeable difference!

Our festival is all about highlighting such small choices and celebrating good food (good for us and good for the planet) here in Skerries.

Given the year that was in it, we, the festival organisers (Sustainable Skerries, itself a committee of The Skerries Community Association) foresaw that a ‘normal’ food festival would not be possible. How could we still have people learn about, and experience, local food?

First of all, there were four very different online events. Something for everyone, you could say!

• Sat 24 April, 4 p.m.: A panel discussion with five local food producers and retailers under the motto “The People Behind Your Food” featuring Gerry’s, Moriarty’s SuperValu, Shoots & Roots, Hella’s Kitchen, and the Skerries Mills Café.
• Sun 25 April, 10 a.m.: A food gardening workshop with organic gardening expert, Klaus Laitenberger.
• Sun 25 April, 3 p.m.: A session on food foraging with Zaneta Wright of Rerooting the Future.
• Sun 25 April, 5 p.m.: a children’s cookery lesson with Orla Owens of The Cookie Club (donations for this event will go to AsIAm / Skerries Autism Friendly Town).

Quite a choice! 

And then there was The Sustainable Skerries Food Festival Trail, which took place in real life. Six Skerries food places. Six tastes. Six hours to try it all!  Sat 24 April, from 10 am – the tickets on Eventbrite sold out.

Trail Goers started on Saturday morning between 10 a.m. and 12 noon at Skerries Mills Farmers Market at the Sustainable Skerries stall and picked up the Trail Map plus their first taste (from Shoots & Roots) there. 

Then they went to each of the other five participating businesses – Hella’s Kitchen, Skerries Mills Café, Moriarty’s SuperValu, Gerry’s Supermarket and Olive Deli – to see and taste for themselves some of the food choices available in Skerries.