Public consultation on how to strengthen GI system launched by commission
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on how to strengthen the geographical indications (GI) system.
It is inviting citizens and organisations as well as national and regional public authorities to contribute to the assessment.
The EU protects almost 3,400 names of specific products – agricultural products and foodstuffs, fishery and aquaculture products, wines, spirit drinks – under one of its quality schemes: GI; Protected Designations of Origin (PDO); Protected Geographical Indication (PGI); and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG).
The goal of the consultation is to gather views on the major challenges identified that would need to be addressed in the planned revision, as well as their underlying causes, the set of policy options that can be envisaged to address these challenges and the impacts stemming from these different options.
Could Boxty Be Getting Protected Status?
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There are many famous foods that have Protected Geographical Indication status; parma ham, champagne, and our own Waterford Blaa. Hopefully soon Ireland can add another to that list - boxty!
Aine Faughnan s family have been making Dromod Boxty in Leitrim for the last 30 years, and after winning the Grow With Aldi competition last year they have brought the potato dish nationwide.
Boxty goes back to the 1700 s and originates from Leitrim, Cavan, Sligo, and Mayo. It declined during the famine, but has stayed a staple in these counties.
The Irish Beef Sector Agreement was signed on 15 September 2019. After months of unrest at factory gates, then Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed convened the group to try to resolve differences through dialogue rather than protests. The agreement had two strands:
A number of immediate changes made to quality assurance bonus payment rates, the development of beef market price reporting and the review the Quality Payment Grid.
Looking at a number of strategic structural reforms, including a requirement to introduce more transparency and create a long-term plan for the Irish beef industry
Progress to date
An in-spec bonus rate of 12c/kg payable for steers and heifers under 30 months grading an O- with a fat score of 4+ has been introduced. A bonus rate of 8c/kg was introduced for steers and heifers aged 30 to 36 months and an increase from 12c to 20c for the standard in-spec bonus rate. The in-spec 70-day residency period was reduced to 60 days on the last farm.
Ysewijn champions some of Britain s most popular bakes such as the Chelsea bun, which back in early 18th-century London may have been the first sweet confection that people ever queued for in masses, she writes, and remains ubiquitous in British bakeries today alongside nearly forgotten regional gems. (Regula Ysewijn)
Regula Ysewijn: Preserving the Pride and History of British Baking
In her new cookbook, the food historian documents Britain s rich baking heritage, from the famous to the obscure
White swans, black swans,
England is locked
Who could repair our key
Let them pass,
And the last one we will catch.
Ysewijn, a food historian, author, and photographer, learned this rhyme as a small child, skipping rope in her native country of Belgium.
January 11, 2021 10:39 am
Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) chief executive Ian Stevenson expects 2021 to be a busy year for farmers, processers and all associated stakeholder organisations as agriculture in Northern Ireland moves into a post-Brexit and, hopefully, pandemic-free world.
“Helping to secure sustainable support arrangements for the beef and lamb sectors will be a key priority for LMC in 2021. It is important that our suckler cow and breeding ewe populations are recognised as core drivers of our beef and lamb industries moving forward,” Stevenson told
AgriLand.
Sustainability and the livestock industry’s response to climate change must be considered in the same context. The reality is that beef and sheep production must be seen as an integral part of the solution, where climate change is concerned, and not part of the problem.