Féile Bríde 2009 – brief report and pictures

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Despite the snow and frost, over a hundred people made their way to the Derby House Hotel in Kildare for Afri’s annual Féile Bríde Conference on February 8th.

The theme ‘seeds of hope…seeds of change’ was reflected in the snowdrops peeping through the snow, as we gathered for the annual festival of words, music, dance and cooking! Frida Berrigan and Denis Halliday looked at our addiction to war and the cost to humanity and the planet while Chef Richard Corrigan and members of Irish Seed Savers Association together showed how to preserve our natural seed heritage, grow our own food and cook it in the most mouth watering way imaginable!

Féile Bríde 2009 – Seeds of Change, Seeds of Hope

Afri

FB2009Sunday February 8th 2009, Derby House Hotel, Kildare Town

Introduction

Afri has been concerned about issues of food and hunger since its inception in 1975. One of Afri’s annual events is the Famine Walk, which remembers the Great Famine of the 1840s (a famine caused amongst other things by the dependence on a monoculture crop) in the context of ongoing famine and starvation throughout the world today.

We look especially at the causes of famine in the 21st century, particularly the war industry (the worst aspects of which are currently being demonstrated by the brutal Israeli bombardment of Gaza) an industry which now costs in excess of a staggering $1,200 billion annually, literally taking food from the mouths of the poor, an issue that will be addressed by Denis Halliday and Frida Berrigan in the opening session of this year’s conference. Continue reading “Féile Bríde 2009 – Seeds of Change, Seeds of Hope” →