2nd Real Food Festival promotes local growers
The Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) has confirmed its commitment to supporting local suppliers and to passing this information on to their customers with RAI President Paul Cadden stating recently that Irish restaurants are happy to supply information on food origin.
And the forthcoming ‘Real Food Festival’ will provide RAI members with a platform from which to showcase the best of product on offer from their local suppliers.
"In the current climate it is more important than ever for our members to support the huge efforts put in by Irish food producers, therefore supporting Irish jobs,” said Paul Cadden, “This is the second year of the Real Food Festival and we hope to build on the success of the last year’s event, " he added.
The RAI-run Festival is aimed at promoting the sourcing of local produce by the foodservice industry as well as encouraging consumers to eat out. As part of the Festival, restaurants around the country will be showcasing the very best of local produce on their menus. Consumers will also be in with the chance to win vouchers for dining out at participating restaurants.
Irish Farmers Association President John Bryan commented, “The Real Food Festival promotes the high standard of quality Irish produce, as our farmers are proud to provide consumers with food produced in an environmentally sustainable way, to the highest quality, safety and animal welfare standards and with the best traceability in the world”.
And Bord Bia Chief Executive Aidan Cotter added, "The ‘Real Food Festival’ complements our ongoing Just Ask campaign which aims to promote traceability, food provenance and Quality Assurance. We urge consumers to look for this information when eating out and for the foodservice sector to provide increased transparency regarding the origin of food. We look forward to working with members of the RAI, in particular to recognise and promote chefs who are demonstrating ‘best practice’ regarding menu information on the origin of food".
For further details on the Real Food Festival please log onto www.realfoodfestival.ie
Launching the Real Food Festival at the Farm Restaurant, Dawson Street, Dublin, are (from left): RAI President Paul Cadden, The Farm’s Head Chef Sean Hunter, Bord Bia’s Maureen Gahan and IFA President John Brian. cap 3988: Launching the Real Food Festival at the Farm Restaurant, Dawson Street, Dublin, are (from left): RAI President Paul Cadden, Bord Bia’s Maureen Gahan, The Farm’s Head Chef Sean Hunter and IFA President John Brian.
