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Food from the wild: go with your gut
Lifestyle – Judy Murphy talks to Nutritionist April Danann who will reveal secrets of “Energy Medicine” to a Galway audience this month
New Year, new you? If that’s your aim, then maybe it’s time to go with your gut. Scientific research shows that a healthy gut is vital to keeping the entire body and mind healthy and in a state of balance. And that involves eating probiotic food.
Vegetables, fruit and water can be turned into healthy, tasty and probiotic gut-friendly food via the age-old practice of fermenting, and a workshop being held at Galway City Museum on Monday, January 30, will give people the skills to start home-fermenting.
The Wild Fermentation Class is being given by Clinical Nutritionist April Danann, who practises what she describes as “Energy Medicine” from her West Cork home. Canadian-born April, who lived for some time in Galway, near Monivea, previously worked as a food hygiene inspector.
In her 20s she studied massage therapy, kinesiology and healing touch, among other complimentary practices, including medical intuition – a skill she says she’s had since childhood. She also has a Masters in Nutrition from the University of Chester and a PhD in Naturopathic Medicine.
“I even have a diploma in food packaging technology,” says the mother-of-two with a laugh. That’s in addition to a BSc in Food Management and Supply and a Masters in Exercise and Nutrition Science. So, she combines science and naturopathic medicine in her work as a nutritional therapist, a rare combination, especially in this country.
And she’s fascinated by food, from the humble dandelion; “immerse it in water, vinegar or brandy and it becomes a magic elixir” – to vinegar; “I make it from hawthorn, elder, red clover and other local flowers”. Other mixtures include Turmeric and Ginger Apple Cider Vinegar, and Wild Blueberry AC Vinegar. Her Fire Tonic Apple Cider vinegar with wild herbs, garlic, hawthorn, turmeric and ginger is an ideal pick-me-up and is just one of the blend she makes for different needs.
A fermentation expert, who is revered by those who espouse healthy diets, April has made a series of Youtube videos for the Happy Pear restaurant in Wicklow, demonstrating what’s involved in the process.
Her love of wild fermentation grew organically, she explains. Cider vinegar is beneficial for the gut and when April first started taking it, she used to buy an organic commercial brand.
“But it was too acidic and was hard on my stomach,” she recalls. “Then, I was on a fast one time and decided to make my own, because commercial vinegars didn’t have the local organisms that my stomach needed.
“It wasn’t difficult but it took time and it’s much more palatable,” she says of the process.
April began by capturing what’s known as “a vinegar mother”, the starter culture for all her subsequent vinegars.
“I put open pots of liquid in our garden in West Cork, which I was able to develop into a vinegar mother. I now use that mother all over – it’s travelled to Singapore, Thailand, America, Australia and Canada.”
However, the bacteria and yeast it contains means it’s particularly well adapted to Ireland and April gives it to people who attend her classes and who want to make their own apple cider vinegar.
“Once you have the ‘mother’ the hard part is done. Then you just need time and patience to produce it the old-fashioned way.”
She does that using “pristine well-water and old whiskey barrels; no plastics or metals”.
That’s because metal can affect the taste and acidity of the finished vinegar. As for plastic, “you never want to put anything acidic near plastic”, she says firmly. “Anything with an acid base will be affected by what it’s fermented in.”
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
There appears to be no resolution in sight to address serious safety concerns at Inis Mór’s leading tourist attraction.
Galway West Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív told the Connacht Tribune that an issue related to parking for various modes of transport continued to frustrate residents and visitors to Inis Mór – and a solution must be found.
“This issue seems to be going on forever,” said Deputy Ó Cuív of the issues at Dún Aonghasa.
“There is a real danger given the large number of people that visit the area and what’s required is improved parking spaces for buses, horse carriages and bicycles at the entrance to the Dún Aonghasa site.
“It also needs to be taken into account that we need to separate horses from buses, and to separate those from cyclists and pedestrians,” said the Fianna Fáil TD.
The lack of sufficient parking was creating gridlock and posing a risk to people travelling the route, continued Deputy Ó Cuív who has called on the Minster of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) to bring the interested parties together to hammer out a solution.
“I am calling on the Minister to convene a roundtable meeting between the island representatives, the OPW and the County Council together with the Department of Rural and Community Development to see how the matter might be addressed.
“I welcome that the present Minister visited the site last year and is aware of the issues, because everyone is very anxious that we get this sorted,” he said.
In a parliamentary question, Deputy Ó Cuív sought an assurance from the Minister of State, Patrick O’Donovan, that he would “organise a roundtable of people with the local authority and the local state-funded development organisation” to address safety concerns on the island.
Responding, Minister O’Donovan said the OPW was progressing a refurbishment of the visitor centre at Dún Aonghasa, while discussions were ongoing relating to traffic management outside the centre.
“I can assure the Deputy that the Office of Public Works will continue such engagement with local stakeholders, including the local authority, and to this end, a meeting will be convened in the coming months as previously agreed,” he said.
Deputy Ó Cuív said it was unfortunate that despite repeated calls for action, the Minister’s response suggested little progress had been made.
“There is a danger here to locals and tourists alike. It is a bad advertisement for the island the way it is at the moment, particularly as this is at one of the premier tourist sites in the country,” he said.
Gardaí in Galway are on high alert for a visit to the West from the US President next month.
And while there has been no confirmation of dates yet, garda planning for a mid-April arrival is in full swing.
Cases at Derrynea District Court’s April sitting are being kept to a minimum as it is expected that gardaí will be otherwise detained, a sitting of the court heard this week.
Sergeant Damien Prendergast told Judge Mary Fahy that cases were being put out to May as it was anticipated there would be a “potential visit” from Joe Biden.
“I have been instructed to keep April free as there is a possible presidential visit,” said Sgt Prendergast.
The Connacht Tribune has learned that Galway gardaí are preparing for the visit to take place the week after Easter, with Derrynea Court due to sit on April 18.
The President’s itinerary is being kept under wraps, but a visit to his ancestral home in Co Mayo is highly likely – and the high degree of security required for such a visit is well underway.
It is understood that while there has been no indication that Galway will be on Mr Biden’s schedule, the county’s gardaí would likely be required to bolster security in the neighbouring county.
Judge Fahy, meanwhile, expressed concern about putting court cases back as a result.
“We’re then landed with a huge, big, long list then,” she said.
The US President’s visit was confirmed earlier this month. Mr Biden is expected to spend five days in the country, travelling north during the visit to mark 25 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
A Galway Garda spokesperson told the Tribune they were not in a position to confirm any details of their role at this point, nor could they indicate if the visit would take in any part of Galway.
“It’s very much an internal matter for the moment,” they said.
A discount supermarket has revealed it will fork out more than €1 million in wages annually if it gets planning permission to provide a new store in Claregalway.
According to Lidl, the decision by Galway County Council to refuse planning earlier this year on a site in the village centre – opposite the Summerfield – was based on “inaccurate assumptions and conclusions”.
The company has now appealed this decision to An Bord Pleanála and a decision on the matter is due at the end of July.
The development of the discount supermarket in Claregalway was rejected by Council planners on the basis that it would make an already chronic traffic situation in the village even worse.
There were more than 20 submissions to the plan by Lidl to establish a discount supermarket and the vast majority of these were in opposition to the proposed development.
Claregalway is one of the most traffic-choked villages in the country and local residents did not want another retail development that would add to the problems.
Tailbacks are a daily occurrence each morning and evening in particular and it was felt by local residents that the development of another supermarket would result in daytime congestion as well.
Planning permission was sought by Lidl for a discount supermarket and ancillary off-licence. It would be a part single and part two storey development in the village centre.
It would have involved the provision of a new access off the Galway road along with the modification of the existing footpaths to create a right turning lane to access the supermarket.
Galway County Council rejected the plan and apart from traffic issues, they cited historical flooding problems on the site and surrounding lands as also a reason for the refusal.
The planners also took issue with the absence of proposals relating to surface water measures on the site. They were not satisfied that the site is not at risk of flooding in the future.
According to Lidl, the store would create around 25 new jobs, generating €1.025 million per annum in wages while €1.5 million would be spent on the construction stage of the discount store.
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