Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine to discuss challenges facing fruit and vegetable industry in Ireland, with focus on reducing food loss and waste

The meeting in Committee Room 3 of Leinster House will be split into three sessions to hear from:

• 5.30pm-6.30pm – Representatives from Bord Bia and Food Vision 2030;
• 6.30pm-7.30pm – Representatives from Keelings;
• 7.30pm-8.30pm – Representatives from Macra na Feirme.

Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Jackie Cahill said: “Ireland’s fruit and vegetable sector faces difficult challenges as it attempts to expand to meet growing domestic demand and diversification of the agrifoods sector to meet climate action targets. These include the scale required to support a viable business, high start-up costs, labour shortages, the need to make horticultural peat available for the mushroom industry, and the weak position of the producer in the supply chain and associated output price pressures.

“Another significant challenge is to reduce food loss and waste in the production and supply of fruit and vegetables. A recent study on the nature and extent of food loss and waste from primary production across the agrifood sector in Ireland found that much of it occurred in the vegetable sector, with the average loss and waste as high as 40 per cent for some crops, despite the smaller size of horticulture relative to meat, dairy and fisheries.

“The Committee looks forward to discussing with our stakeholders how to meet these challenges and the strategies needed to mitigate the problems faced, as well as how the industry can reduce food loss and waste across the fruit and vegetable sector.”

The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has 14 Members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.

The meeting in Committee Room 3 can be viewed live on Oireachtas TV.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.