GMIT staff take part in “SOW, GROW, EAT” event for families at The Claregalway Castle Spring Garden Fair

On Sunday, 2nd April, 2017, staff from GMIT College of Tourism and Arts, under the auspices of  “The FoodieForum”, partnered with Chef Network, the HSE and local food producers from the Galway area to host a “SOW, GROW, EAT” event for families at The Claregalway Castle Spring Garden Fair.

The event was part of a range of food and health education iniatives as part of Galway's designation as a European Region of Gastronomy 2018. GMIT is one of the leading partners in this initiative.

The FoodieForum, founded in 2010 by Jacinta Dalton, Cormac Handy and Colin Gilligan from GMIT, is an interactive, educational platform.  The FoodieForum was initially about profiling the excellence of local, artisan produce and educating on food provenance, whilst creating a networking platform for food producers and food businesses.  

It has now evolved and is working closely with food producers such as Gabriel O’ Flaherty, Aran Islands Goats Cheese, Noel Leahy of Sliabh Aughty Honey and Liam Heneghan of Heneghan nurseries to provide a series of educational food events for families.  The aim of these events is to give children greater insight into gastronomy; how their food grows, where it comes from, how to cook it, and the associated benefits for all the family to be gained from growing and cooking together.     

Joining the team on Sunday, 2nd April were Diarmuid O’Conghaile and Shane Sheedy from GMIT, Jim Gilchrist – Chef Network and Head Chef at Caprice restaurant, Sinead O’Halloran, CaterCare Ltd. and Lisa Corbett, Community and Nutrition Department at the HSE.

This event was a huge success and highlighted the importance of food education and the collaborative opportunities that the European Region of Gastronomy 2018 can provide.