Food Empathy Retreat with Mick Kelly

Many people are waking up to the reality that the food system is broken and needs to be remade from the ground up.  It is not designed to support our health, and it is thrashing this planet that we all share.  We are in the midst of a vast social experiment, with our diets quickly changing from pre-dominantly whole foods to pre-dominantly ultra-processed (now accounting for up to 48% of the national shopping basket).  Led by the multi-national companies that produce, sell and distribute these foods this shift is accelerating and leading to a wave of chronic diet-related ill health and exacerbating the climate and biodiversity crisis. 

GIY's work has been focussed on pushing this piano back up the hill, helping to create a movement of people who value whole foods some of which they've grown themselves; and with transformed food knowledge, behaviour and attitudes.  

This two-day immersive retreat at the home of GIY, GROW HQ in Waterford, will focus on what GIY Founder Mick Kelly calls 'Food Empathy' - the big 5 food behaviours that can transform your health and help you thread more lightly on the planet:

• Eating with the seasons
• Supporting local producers
• Reducing your food pollution
• Eating more plants
• Reducing food waste

Mick has explored these themes extensively through his social media presence, the TV series he presented for RTE and Amazon Prime and on the Food Matters podcast.  Mick is a respected thought leader on the food system in Ireland, and an inspiring and thought-provoking speaker.  But he also brings the practical experience of growing his own food at home - he started to grow some food in his early thirties (prior to which he says he killed every house plant he ever owned).  He has spent nearly two decades trying to reconnect people to real food and to awaken to the need for change.

The retreat is based at GROW HQ in Waterford City (see tab) and the price includes all your homemade/homegrown meals for the two days including lunch on both days, a 3 course dinner on Saturday night and breakfast on Sunday morning.  Accommodation is not included and you must secure your own - there are options provided below.

At a time of deep global uncertainty, we expect this retreat to be food for the brain and soul; a call to action, but also a practical, inspiring and interactive retreat with plenty of time to discuss the food empathy themes with your fellow retreaters over the weekend.  We will send you off feeling recharged and inspired, and with some seeds to take action, and a copy of one of Mick's books free of charge (Grow Cook Eat, or the GIY kids book The Know-it-Allmanac).