SHARING OPTIONS:
Aoife says that all traditional Irish foods have a place in a healthy lifestyle. \ Donal O’Leary
In 2020, Teagasc published a report on farmers’ health. One of the publication’s most alarming findings was that 80.5% of farmers have an “at-risk” waist circumference of 94cm (37in) or more.
Kicking off our conversation on this stat, Aoife Hearne recalls a time that the farming population were in the lowest health risk category.
“Traditionally farmers were some of the healthiest people in our population, because they were so active. We talk nowadays about people getting 10,000 steps in every day. But in the past, farmers probably got 30,000 steps per day,” she says.
SHARING OPTIONS:
Have appropriate footwear for whatever the task at foot is. Invest in two pairs of supportive, laced boots for working. \ Philip Doyle
As you walk through your livestock out grazing, you watch them carefully, looking out for signs of lameness. But do you ever stop to think about your own feet? How are they feeling in their ninth hour of welly wearing today?
Ann Bermingham Chiropody is based in Tullamore, Co Offaly. With over 25 years of experience and a lifetime in the countryside, Ann knows too well the neglect and hardship bestowed upon farmers’ feet.
“Skin problems are one of the most common issues we deal with. Farmers often come into us with hard skin, fissures and cracked heels, which is mainly because they are outside in all types of weather; or because they have stayed in wet boots or socks all day,” she says.
AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES: Supporting Kogi women for economic development
On
By Boluwaji Obahopo, Lokoja
Mariam Audu deals in cashew nut in Iyale, Dekina council area of Kogi State. Every year, she looks up to the month of February with hopes of better deals to no avail.
The cashew nut business had helped her to support her family. Presently, Mariam is pregnant and cannot, for now, cope very well with the ups and downs of the business.
As the reporter approached her and some other women under a cashew tree in Iyale, Mariam thought a cashew merchant had arrived. She quickly adjusted herself hoping to make a sale. The reporter engaged them in a conversation, using the little Igala language he understood. And when he posed a question, it was obvious none of the women understood the English Language. The reporter then beckoned on his interpreter to come to his aid. Thereafter, the conversation was without a hitch and smoother.