Reveal your food habits to prepare for new reality
Health, Fashion and Beauty by Denise McNamara
Brendan Smith was always an avid gardener, having been instrumental in setting up the organic community garden in Ballinfoile off the Headford Road in the city.
But when the lockdown happened, he took to it with a relish that surprised even himself.
“I dramatically extended the veg garden and planted a lot more food for us to eat. My neighbours and I were sharing veg and leaving seeds out for each other. We were also sharing recipes for cooking and started turning fruit into jams,” he exclaims
In response to a few tweets and enquiries from NUIG colleagues about his gardening prowess, he wrote a beginner’s guide to planting a garden which was quickly shared across social media.
He heard from a man in Castlepark who turned his old coal bunker into a veg garden.
The lockdown also had a major impact on the family’s cooking habits. Forced to work from the attic in his home when the university was closed, Brendan found himself returning to the kitchen for the first time since his student days.
His wife Cepta who works in administration in UHG, showed him how to turn his hand to a few meals. He and sons Shane, 29, and Daire, 20 - spread out in rooms at home working and studying - shared the cooking. All of them learned new skills from each other while housebound at Sandyvale Lawn without access to restaurants, cafes and takeaways.
“Lots of us eat out. My own family didn’t eat together most of the time. This was a complete turnaround for us,” he enthuses.
“There was no waste. I grew up in a generation where it was automatic the family came together for the Sunday roast. Anything left over was an opportunity to make soup. The leftover bread was mixed with raisins to make puddings. And we got into that habit – all of us trying new things. We would get excited about reducing waste, excited about seeing a vegetable coming out of the soil.”
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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