Features
Keeping It Local
On Achill Island, a wild and stark (and during my October visit, desolate) landscape shaped by the winds and waves of the Atlantic, is perhaps the most sustainable food operation that I have encountered in recent memory. In a quiet corner of the Island's southern tail, a Gaeltacht area still untouched by holiday home development, lies one of the Calvey family's sheep farms. It reaches just over one hundred acres in size, and is different to their two other farms in one major regard: ten years ago, it was granted organic status.
Home grown
What is perhaps most unique about the Calveys' operation is that, in the nearby village of Keel, they also have their own abattoir, butcher, and restaurant. At a time when climate change is becoming a major political issue and there is increasing concern over the exorbitant miles travelled by many food products, it is reassuring to know that genuine, local, sustainable producers still exist.
Martina Calvey, who along with her father farms the organic flock, explains: "We literally do everything. We breed the lambs - or nature breeds them rather, and rears them. We butcher them, we craft them…ideally we like to be able to supply direct through our own shop. There are no miles involved, because we process onsite. We do it all."
Held in high regard
Considering the high esteem in which Achill lamb is already held, what prompted the Calveys to take the extra step and go organic a decade ago?
"Part of the brand of what we do is our own values, which is reflected by the values of what happens on the farm. We are totally dedicated to nature. By and large we would have been organic anyway. Really and truly we didn't change anything about our farm, except we probably to a greater extent ensured that our fences were stock proof."
"Dad was always big into the Achill lamb. It was always sold from here right back as far as 1960, and it's gone to every corner of Ireland. We're so proud of the Achill lamb, and I thought organic was another value added on. I think I was trying to attach a higher profile and esteem to the product and the word organic fitted."
Closed system
As well as the two hundred sheep they farm organically, the Calveys have two other conventional farms, totalling about six hundred animals. The conventional farms exist on areas of commonage – where sheep from different herds are free to roam together – making an organic label impossible. What does Martina see as the difference between the farms?
"Over the years we've noticed certain things, like rushes and vegetation flourishing on the organic land, because before that there may have been some controls. But we say that we're as simple as nature. We don't have many problems with diseases. I've never seen any fluke and we don't have a problem with clostridium. We don't introduce anything else on to the farm. We protect the flock. We would have twenty times more problems on the conventional farm than the organic."
As well as being committed to organic production and to local processing and selling, the Calveys are very protective of the genetic heritage of their flock. Martina explains: "There is a unique breed of sheep that has evolved over time on Achill. The animal has adapted to survival in what is an extreme physical environment. We haven't cross-bred with any outside breed. They wouldn't have the kind of large ears or features of lowland animals. We're quite protective of that."
Natural flavour
Martina is convinced that the unique Achill environment and her family's natural approach give the lamb its reputation for great taste. "In the past, the people would have taken the seaweed from the shore, up onto the land to make soil. This is actually man made soil and the lambs thrive very well up there. It's the true taste of Achill. Their diet is exactly as nature produces – the heather, the herbs, and the grasses. They're not given any grain. It is totally flavoured by nature." And indeed, their list of customers – which has included Ballymaloe House – is a testament to this.
With a decade's experience of certified organic farming, what does Martina think lies ahead for the sector? I think organic needs to be made more user-friendly. It's seen to be an exclusive thing. I understand why it's more expensive, but I don't think the consumer really does though and if they're not into buying labels they don't want to pay more. I think by and large the public aren't familiar with it, and think it's a faddy thing or that they might be conned in some way."
Martina is also vocal about the need for people to take more responsibility in their food choices. "People now want something that's convenient, fast, quick, and it doesn't matter if the quality of the food is compromised."
As she leads me out into the windy Achill evening, Martina hands me a couple of lamb cutlets, and as I leave I see the ferocious waves on Keel strand with the Minaun cliffs towering above.
Achill is an enchanting place, so wild and ruggedly beautiful that every time you leave you find yourself wanting to return. As Martina says, it gets into your bones, and into the bones of the sheep. And even if doing things more conventionally meant making more money, Martina is steadfast in her philosophy. "If you respect nature, and farm with nature, nature will respect you." Such an approach, I was to discover later that evening, a1so makes for some fantastic lamb.
