The foods we consume today are produced locally, nationally or can be imported from countries within the European Union (EU) or from non-EU third countries such as the USA, Australia, China and Costa Rica.
The amount of food imported onto the island of Ireland has increased rapidly in recent years. This is mainly due to an increase in consumer demand for a wider variety of food, because of lower cost, for trade reasons or because of seasonality.
The length of the food chain
In recent years there has been enormous growth in the businesses and industries that are involved with world trade. There can be many links in the trading chain from growers, to transporters, to processors, advertisers, retailers and finally consumers. The link in the chain can be complicated and can travel across many miles – locally, nationally and even globally, for example pineapples from Costa Rica, tomatoes from Spain, cheese from France etc.
Food chain reviews
In 2005 safefood initiated a series of food chain screening exercises. Each review profiles specific food categories e.g. beef, and identifies and describes the relevant food safety and nutritional issues relating to it at various stages along the food chain. Reviews of the chicken, finfish, fruit and vegetable, beef, milk and pork supply chains have already been undertaken in this series and are available by clinking on the links below:
Chicken | Finfish | Fruit & vegetables | Beef | Milk | Pork
In 2008 safefood established a programme of reviews which profiles a specific topic of interest, identifies and describes the relevant food safety and nutritional issues and identifies opportunities to communicate the human health benefits to, and influence the behaviour of a wide variety of stakeholders.
The first of this series of review, Where does our food come from?, is available by clicking on the link below:
Where does our food come from?