Way way back in 2009 I wrote a post about Peter Ward on the Late Late Show. He spoke passionately about the fact we have very little control about the food we eat. Supermarkets have too much control.

He advocated going to farmer’s markets and getting in contact with local producers and buy direct.

He said : “If I had my way Pat, I would set up a national eBay to link the farmer with the customer and eliminate the supermarket”.

2 years later, I scratched an itch I’ve had since that time.

It’s a website called dirt.ie

The idea is basically what Peter Ward was talking about on that edition of the Late Late Show. Once live, it will be a simple way to search for people selling food in your area. You want carrots? Just select where you are looking for them and BAM – you’ll get a listing of any producers in your area with carrots for sale. It’s not just going to be farmers and large producers.

I’m hoping anyone who has food for sale, will list it here. Case in point. There’s a man who sells lovely tomatoes during the summer near where I live. He’s been doing it for years in his back garden. You wouldn’t know about him unless someone happened to mention it to you. Dirt.ie will list people like this. We shouldn’t need to go to supermarkets to buy everything. I would rather give my money directly to the person who has dug the earth and tended the plants themselves. Same goes for meat products.

So that’s it. All announced – now the work begins. Would love to hear from any food producers who’d like to get listed. I need some contacts to start building the database and do some testing.

Please spread the word. Again, the website is dirt.ie and email is hello AT dirt.ie.  Also on Twitter!