Community Building

FarmLift

Building Sustainable Community through supporting Local Food Systems

FarmLift is an innovative approach to creating circular economies at a local scale.

FarmLift is a project where:

  • Businesses offer weekly, locally sourced vegetables to employees

  • Each week participating employees receive a box/bag of vegetables from local farms

  • Employees also receive workshops on vegetable preparation, processing, preservation and cooking

  • Employees can visit participating farms and learn more about how vegetables are produced using agro-ecological systems and method

The benefits:

Social:

  • Vegetables are sourced from local farms practice agroecological and organic farming methods, supporting local small and medium scale prodcuers and keeping money in the local economy

  • Employees gain a sense of connection to place, a link to the land and an opportunity to meet the farmers who are growing their food

  • Employees will have a shared experience where they can exchange recipes, methods of cooking and preservation, and other food related activities

Environmental:

  • Organic and agro-ecological farms have been proven to provide better spaces for biodiversity and nature than other types of farms

  • Water, fossil fuel and other inputs are lower on Irish produced vegetables than imported ones

  • Recipes, education and training can reduce food waste as employees become more familiar with how to prepare, store and preserve fresh vegetables and fruits

Financial:

  • Small Benefit Exemption - Employers can give employees benefits, up to €1000 tax free, each year. These benefits must not be in cash.

Imports

What do we know about the environmental footprint of local and imported fruit and vegetables? Teagasc

If you think you or your employer would be interested in the FarmLift Pilot and would like more information and to apply to become a member, please get in touch below.

There are no upcoming events at this time.