Madeline McKeever is on a mission to protect biodiversity and secure our food future—one seed at a time. A former dairy farmer in West Cork, Madeline started Brown Envelope Seeds after realising just how vulnerable Ireland is to global seed supply chains and shocks. Today, she’s a leading voice for seed saving in Ireland promoting local seeds that grow well in Irish conditions. Her work helps growers of all kinds—from back gardens to small farms—understand how saving seeds is not...

The GIY team and I are taking a short summer break from recordings, but in the meantime, we’ll be bringing you a selection of our favourite episodes from the series so far. So whether you’re hearing them for the first time, or coming back for second helpings, I hope you enjoy! - Mick Kelly If you’ve ever bought a head of broccoli in an Irish supermarket, Paul Brophy probably grew it. Paul Brophy Produce grows almost 11 million broccoli plants annually on 600 ac...

The GIY team and I are taking a short summer break from recordings, but in the meantime, we’ll be bringing you a selection of our favourite episodes from the series so far. So whether you’re hearing them for the first time, or coming back for second helpings, I hope you enjoy! - Mick Kelly Mark Diacono found his life’s purpose and direction through food and he has dedicated his life to growing, cooking and writing about it. Having been involved in the early day...

Vincent Cleary is one of Ireland’s original champions of food sustainability. Having taken over the family yoghurt business from his father in the mid 1990s, Vincent knew that organics was the way forward and within a year, Glenisk was a fully organic milk and yoghurt brand that quickly rose to dominate its market in Ireland. When a fire destroyed Glenisk’s production facility in 2021, Vincent was faced with one of the biggest challenges of his career: rebuilding a family business that ...

Niall Sabongi is on a mission to change how we eat, and think about, seafood in Ireland. A chef and seafood entrepreneur, Niall was frustrated by stuffy restaurants and a broken fishing system, and he set out to do things differently. He opened a string of relaxed, seafood-focused eateries and later launched Sustainable Seafood Ireland, a wholesale business dedicated to sourcing the best wild Irish catch while supporting responsible fishing practices. In this episode of Food Matt...

Tom Keogh has a great story to tell. Their family has been farming the land for over three generations, supplying the fresh produce market with potatoes grown on the farm in North County Dublin. Faced with falling demand for fresh spuds, Tom took a bold step, he began making crisps by hand in a shed on the farm. That small experiment became Keogh’s Crisps, now one of Ireland’s best-loved food brands and a growing global export. Along the way, Tom has helped to revive interest in the hu...

John Gilliland is on a mission to transform how we think about food, farming, and the environment. At Brook Hall Estate, his family’s historic farm in Derry, John began by trying to lower his farm’s energy bills, but his changes grew into a model for climate-friendly farming that’s now guiding policy in Northern Ireland and beyond. An award-winning farmer and one of the world’s leading voices in agricultural sustainability, John has pioneered techniques to take his farm beyond carbon neutral....

Having spent over a decade as an international pro surfer, Fergal Smith made the life-changing decision to return home to the west of Ireland and follow in his father’s footsteps as an organic farmer. Starting with just half an acre of land, Fergal has slowly grown his innovative food business, Moy Hill Farm, into a 120-acre certified organic farm, growing vegetables using the no dig system, the Korean Natural Farming method, and Holistic Management. In this episode of Food Matters, Fe...

Dr Ollie Moore is an expert in the sociology of farming and food, and one of Ireland’s leading experts on food systems and champions of food justice. As a member of Talamh Beo, Ollie was invited by a farming development and advocacy organisation in Palestine to visit the West Bank and learn about what life is like for food producers in an area that is renowned for endless conflict and highly challenging living and working conditions. It was a very eye opening and at times, difficu...

Mitch McCullough’s journey into the world of heirloom seeds and heritage vegetables is anything but ordinary. A former chef turned grower, Mitch explores the fascinating stories behind the plants we eat. His book, ‘The Seed Hunter: Discover the World's Most Unusual Heirloom Plants’, is more than a gardening guide - it’s a deep dive into rare and unusual varieties, culinary traditions, and the importance of preserving seed diversity.. In this episode of Food Matters, Mitch talks t...

We talk a lot about the future of food on this podcast, but what about the past? Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire is on a mission to uncover and celebrate Ireland’s deep-rooted food history. From the earliest evidence of dairy farming over 5,000 years ago to trade networks that shaped our cuisine, he explores how food connects us to our past. An award-winning chef, educator, food historian, and broadcaster, Máirtín is also the co-editor of ‘Irish Food History: A Companion’, a book that traces Ir...

Colman Power’s mission is a simple one – to help people become happier and healthier through good food, regular movement, and spending time in nature. Having studied horticulture at third level, Coleman became a skilled organic grower and a personal trainer. He has combined his twin passions into a career as an educator and author, self-publishing the no1 Amazon best-seller, The Power of Organic Fitness. In this episode of Food Matters, Coleman talks to Mick Kelly of GIY about how he fo...

Kevin Wallace had no farming background at all, yet he has become one of Ireland’s most successful small-scale producers, growing a range of produce including salad greens, summer crops and speciality products for hotels, restaurants and cafés. Kevin is passionate about soil health and microbial balance, implementing practices such as the ‘no-dig’ and Korean Natural Farming methods to ensure that he is working in harmony with nature. In this episode of Food Matters, Kevin talks to...

When Conor Spacey was working in his first kitchen he was shocked at the amount of perfectly good food being thrown away. He convinced his boss to let him save it, cook it, and use it to feed all of his colleagues. It was a small change that made a big difference to the kitchen’s sustainability and its bottom line. Ever since, Conor has dedicated his career to fighting food waste and creating a fairer food system. Today, Conor is the Culinary Director of FoodSpace Ireland and a co-founder of ...

When Ciara O hArtghaile returned home to Co Antrim, after a year living in New Zealand, she and her husband had a clear mission: to build a community around love of good food, in their home town of Ballycastle. They started to bake high quality sourdough bread in the small domestic oven of their rented apartment, just three loaves at a time. Today, they run the highly successful Ursa Minor Bakehouse cafe, a cookery school, and a professional bakery turning out 300 loaves a day! In th...

Brian McCarthy founded innovative urban farming project Cork Rooftop Farm during the first covid lockdown in March 2020. Situated on a rooftop in Cork city centre, the farm started off as a personal project to grow fruit and vegetables. But Brian started to see the potential for something much bigger and, today, Cork Rooftop Farm is a thriving business and a poster child for how urban farming can play a major role in addressing food security, sustainability, and community health In thi...

Darryl Gadzekpo and Ella Phillips are on a mission to get kids growing, cooking, and eating more plant-powered food. Having previously worked in the arts, Darryl and Ella have brought all of that creativity into what they do today: growing interesting veg in their urban garden, running cookery workshops and pop-up dining experiences, and packing as much flavour as possible into vegan dishes. In this episode of Food Matters, they tell Mick Kelly of GIY about their experience of adopting...

Did you know that Ireland is very well-suited for growing apples, but despite that, we import over 95% of the apples we eat? Irish apples can sometimes be difficult to buy, but when you do find them, there’s a good chance they were grown by Con Traas. Con has 40,000 apple trees on ‘The Apple Farm’ in Co Tipperary and he sells the fruit directly from his on-site farm shop and also produces apple juice, cider, crisps, vinegar, jams and jellies. In this episode of Food Matters, Con joins ...

In 2004, David and Stephen Flynn, aka The Happy Pear, opened a small fruit and veg shop in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, with a dream of helping people eat more veg. Now, two decades later, The Happy Pear is one of the best-known and loved brands in Ireland, and has scaled into a highly successful business comprising over 80 products, online courses, best-selling books, a coffee roastery, a farm and more. In this episode of Food Matters, Dave and Steve join Mick Kelly in Grow HQ to s...

So is it possible that digging your garden is a total waste of your time? According to our guest on this episode, it may be time to put down that shovel and spend those precious hours doing something way more productive. Charles Dowding is best known as the ‘No-Dig Guru. He trained as a horticulturalist and became very interested in the links between soil and nutrition. During his studies, he discovered that we can have healthier soil by leaving it undisturbed, and just feeding it wit...