By The never ending covid 19 saga, Hmmmm!
We have been going through this pandemic for quite some time now. The “new normal” as they call it, seems like it is going to be the absolute of a new norm as we attempt to live with and around the covid 19 “situation”.
Currently India is the country surging with cases and is expected to top the United States and Brazil should the country continue it’s rising numbers of daily cases. It is all really shocking when one considers how they may or may not have spent their August weekend holiday, this time last year.
So how do we begin to pick up the pieces? Many have lost their jobs and may never return to active employment. The credit ratings and bill defaults will continue to rise. What can any individual do about any of this?
While countries around the world are scrambling for aid, other earlier affected countries are in tight negotiations to decide and deliver stimulus payment packages to their citizens. The covid-19 situation really seems to be a golden opportunity for printing money and that debts begin to be forgiven. Yes it may suck for those heavily invested though it would rescue the entire global population. Will the extremely wealthy ever agree to such a, what always seemed absurd, idea?
How can 1 person make a difference? You can make a difference. You can make this difference by shopping in your local community. What does this mean? It means to begin an economic recovery, people of any community must make attempts to spend their money within their own community. In turn for this, the local business people can then hire and pay to their suppliers also on a local level. This can begin a better situation of covid-19 in your own local area.
Yes, yes I hear you say “shop local” of course this makes sense & thank you for stating the obvious Aidan.
Here in my own immediate community, there are approximately 1200 residents perhaps (maybe more, maybe less) a small village nonetheless. To the north a town of approx 12 to 15,000 people and to the south another town of approx 6 to 10,000 people. I am not full sure or certain of the head count of population. These are rough estimate of populations local to where I live.
The town to the south is called Rush, the town to the north is called Skerries. These towns are made up of housing, small main street shopping areas and large areas of surrounding produce farming. Both towns have eateries and have 2 to 3 beaches each. The village I come from is a small village in the middle of the two towns and they are roughly 3 km each from the crossroads of Loughshinny . Loughshinny has a road to the east from the main crossroads that dead ends to the beach and small harbour of Loughshinny.
The area makes up about a 10 to 12 km stretch of North County Dublin coastline, Ireland. So as you can probably tell yes, the fields of produce are stretching right down to the sandy beaches and cliff lands in many parts of the area.
What can make this such a great piece of the Fingal area? This of course brings me to the supporting community portion of the post.
In my my own, immediate village area, did you know there is quite a bit of supporting that can be done and you can gain some great deals for your own home cooked meals?
From the mighty crossroads of Loughshinny heading South in the direction of Rush, approximately 100 meters, you will find the Brannigan household. So what is special here? When you find the time to stop in, you can visit directly to their house and they have converted the area to a full drive through service where you can buy fresh caught fish and prawns directly from their own fishing vessel. The catch has been blast frozen at sea and is some of the freshest
quality seafood you will ever find, (unless of course you are eating the seafood directly out of a trawl net that you hauled up yourself) . The name of their new enterprise is “Brano’s Prawns”. I will provide you a link to their face book page below, there you will find things like recipe ideas and hints on how to cook and peel Dublin Bay prawns. A large majority of Dublin Bay prawns have been caught and landed ashore locally for decades on Skerries Harbour.
Let me take you back to the cross of Loughshinny again. While standing at the cross roads of Loughshinny, to the north west corner of the cross roads you will find a white washed house with a farm yard entrance to the west side about 20 meters west of the crossroads. In this yard you may see clearly a sign that reads “New Irish Potatoes”. Inside of the yard to attend you, you will find Jean. Jean has been selling potatoes that are locally grown for decades also. I can definitely stand behind the taste and quality of these potatoes ( I have loved them for years). Believe it or not when you meet Jean, you will find it hard to believe she may have even picked them herself too. Delicious to say the least. I do not think Jean has any direct links on the Web, just drive in the yard any day or evening you see the sign saying “potatoes for sale”. You will not be disappointed.
Let me take you a little further west of the cross of Loughshinny now. This road leads to a very beautiful area of Baldongan Castle. An old ruin from some historic century or other. It is a grave yard grounds now and has been for centuries too. My own father is buried there. This is how local our small community in this corner of Ireland is. For many who I have met and befriended over the years from around Ireland in the more rural counties, many still to this day think because I came from Dublin I must be a city guy. Loughshinny is rural too and a small community where the fields meet the cliffs along the shores of Ireland & the Irish sea.
Moving west down the road from the Cross roads approximately 600 meters you will find a new and upcoming enterprise of “Granny Rosie’s Farm”. What could this be? A small cottage industry again or market garden type arrangement where the owner has decided to grow fine organic produce in small strips of his field and inside of some of his newer poly~tunnels. A variety of garden vegetables all organic and freshly plucked and picked for your own home cooking. Granny Rosie’s Farm does have a face book page and I will provide a link for you below. I even picked up some delicious sour dough bread from their Saturday Market day
directly from inside of their field where they will be set up and awaiting your arrival. Produce a plenty and harvested on the day for you to purchase and return home and make a satisfying Saturday evening meal with fresh veg. Save a little for the Sunday dinner if you can. I believe you can speak with Matt or Susanne and get your weekend veg any given Saturday.
Imagine all that in my own little community area. A small village of 1000 to 1200 population and all this to eat. Fresh, local and available for you to visit the Fingal area or from the local towns and enjoy the finest of foods.
Oh and by the way, you can share this post all around the globe and spread the word on the idea of sourcing and supporting your local community.
Links:
Brano’s Prawns, https://m.facebook.com/branos.prawns?lst=1346269189%3A100051393935973%3A1596369306
Granny Rosie’s Farm, https://m.facebook.com/Granny-Rosies-Farm-106450501109319/
& of course a link to my very own books should you fancy a book to read while on the beach this summer. https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01GMP523Q
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A.McNallyauthor.com 