During an extended trip through South America, Damien Regan's eyes were opened to the vulnerabilities of our global food system and the risks they pose to food security. He returned home determined to better understand these challenges and to help build practical solutions.

In this episode of Food Matters, Damien talks to Mick Kelly of GIY about food security, global supply chains, and why Ireland's dependence on imported food and resources may leave us more exposed than we realise. Along the way, he reflects on the lessons we can learn from history, and the steps communities can take to create a more secure, healthy and sustainable food future.

Brendan Dunford grew up on a farm in County Waterford, but it was the landscape of the Burren that shaped his life’s work. Over the past two decades, he has worked closely with farmers and local communities to show how farming and biodiversity can work together, not against each other.

In this episode of Food Matters, Brendan talks to Mick Kelly of GIY about the pioneering BurrenLIFE project, why listening to farmers matters, and the challenges facing both food production and nature today. Along the way, he reflects on landscape, trust, local knowledge, and why farming can be as much about care and creativity as it is about production.

Jim Power is one of Ireland's best-known economists. Having grown up on a farm in County Waterford, he has always had a particular passion for the economics of food production and farming. Jim recently crunched 20 years of consumer data that tell an alarming story about the viability of our food production sector, and in this episode, he joins Mick Kelly of GIY to reveal the real-world impact of aggressive retail pricing, rising input costs combined with falling incomes, and policy blind spots.

In a rapidly changing and dangerous world where we rely on imports of cheap food, they also discuss how Ireland can become more food-secure and avoid sleepwalking towards a crisis of shortages.

Check out Jim’s data HERE