TheCity

Tag: Food

  • “Feeding the 5000” in Dublin city centre

    “Feeding the 5000” in Dublin city centre

    By Fionnuala Holohan.

    [youtube.com=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PoX2IbvRCo&feature=g-upl]

    While elsewhere in the city, anti-austerity demonstrators were preparing to march on Dáil Éireann, here in Wolfe Tone Square austerity and thrift were the watchwords of the day.

    Army tents, mobile kitchens and fridges lined the square, in preparation for Dublin’s first “Feeding the 5000” event – where “ugly” fruit and vegetables would be recycled to make free meals for everyone for the day.

    “Shops and shoppers often reject perfectly good fruit,” said Clíona, a volunteer, observing that in the UK, people were more pragmatic and happy to take leftovers at the end of the day, whereas in Ireland, there was a reluctance to do so. “It would be a good thing if that changed,” she added.

    Tristram Stuart, author of Waste, Uncovering the Global Food Scandal, and organizer of the first such events in Bristol and London, was on hand to help the Dublin organizers. He stood at the end of Mary Street, encouraging shoppers to come sample the free food.

    The pace was slower than expected, but steady throughout the day.

    The Dublin “Feeding the 5000” event was held as part of the European Week for Waste Reduction which ran from November 17th-25th.

    For more information about the European Week of Waste Reduction, you can go to http://www.ewwr.eu/pre-home, and for more on the “Feeding the 5000”  initiative, please go to www.feeding5kdublin.org

  • Morning in Moore Street

    Morning in Moore Street

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    Mid-week 9.45am meandering...

    A schoolboy, who ought to have been in school begged his Dad to buy him a watermelon,one so big that he struggled to lift it. “Please Da can I have it, they’re lovely so they are.” My heart went out to the young lad when his Dad said “not today son.” Even though I suspected he only wanted it because it matched the colour of his uniform.

    “Cigarettes for sale” was the brazen bellow to be heard from the street corners. Loud and clear so all could hear.

    “Come here to me love and I’ll do your hair for you” pleaded a woman with a handful of hair extensions.

    A mother and daughter sat side-by-side at their fruit stall and exchanged tips of the trade. Breakfast for the street merchants consisted of their own produce. One man munched on a banana and a woman crunched on an apple.

    The pigeons wanted in on the action too, a flock gathered around chunks of naan bread retrieved from the nearby refuse bin.

    A waft of freshly baked bread lingered in the air. The source was a Parisian baker and an actual real bakery.

    Across the street stood a lady haggling with the fishmongers; she wanted eight fish but onlyif the price was right. She tried her luck but the experienced trader wasn’t having any of it.

    Five minutes later, the customer returned and did a deal. The merchant emerged the happier from that trade-off. Her face lit up, in marked contrast to her earlier scowl.

    Neon lights signalled phone repair shops in competition for custom. One such shop had an on-site hairdresser to offer haircuts to ‘shorten’ the wait. Beat that.

    A toddler stood enrapt looking skywards; a toy sized toy shop and its turban- wearing ower had captured her attention. She was lost in her own world until her father hurried her along.

    A Polish store big enough to take on the Tesco giant complemented the kitsch polish cafe a few doors away. On a fruit stall, Chinese pears took pride of place alongside Irish pears.

    Difference embraced.

    Words: Martha Gberevbie

    Photos: Aidan Knowles