This Month at Our Food Roots - July 2026

Reflections, updates and insights from across our work

The past month has reinforced something we have long believed at Our Food Roots: effective communication isn't something that begins when headlines appear - it's built through preparation, collaboration and trusted relationships long before that point.

From supporting the sector around water quality to progressing our flagship 'We Make Greatness from Grass' campaign, June has been about laying stronger foundations for the conversations ahead. While these initiatives differ in audience and approach, they share a common objective: helping more people understand Irish food and farming through communication that is clear, credible and relatable.

Below are a few reflections from the month.

Read time 2 min

16 July 2026

By Our Food Roots

Supporting INFORMED Conversations on Water Quality

Recent public attention on water quality provided the first opportunity to put many elements of our Communications Capability Programme into practice at scale.

Working alongside sector partners, Our Food Roots helped coordinate communications support that included spokesperson preparation, shared briefing materials and engagement with national, regional and agricultural media. More importantly, it reinforced the value of bringing people together early, aligning around evidence-based messaging and creating opportunities for authentic local voices to be heard.

One of our biggest takeaways was that communications works best when it is collaborative. No single organisation can build understanding alone, but together we can create more informed conversations that better reflect both the challenges facing the sector and the significant work already underway.

These learnings will now shape our approach to future topics including emissions, nature restoration and animal welfare.

Reaching people who don't normally hear our story

Alongside this work, preparations continue for our flagship consumer campaign, We Make Greatness From Grass, launching later this autumn.

The campaign has been developed for younger audiences with little or no direct connection to farming. Rather than asking people to learn more about agriculture, it aims to reconnect them through humour, culture and storytelling that celebrates what makes Irish farming unique.

Production is now underway, with filming taking place later this month ahead of a nationwide launch.

Building understanding every day

Not every conversation begins with a campaign.

Throughout June and July, we continued to build understanding of Irish food and farming through timely content, sector engagement and ongoing conversations across the industry.

Recent content explored topics including water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, dairy sustainability and consumer attitudes towards farming, helping extend the reach of Our Food Roots' research, campaigns and educational resources while contributing to informed conversations on key sector issues.

Explore some of our latest LinkedIn commentary:

Alongside this, the Our Food Roots team attended a number of sector events, including Teagasc BEEF2026, the Farming for Nature Festival, Don Somers' award-winning farm walk and the premiere of Irish Farmers: A Love Story. These events provided valuable opportunities to listen, learn and continue building relationships with the people and organisations shaping the future of Irish agriculture.

Image (4) Left to Right: Teagasc BEEF2026 Open Day, Farming for Nature Festival, Don Somers' award-winning farm walk and FoodTank's debut documentary short film "Irish Farmers: A Love Story", in collaboration with Kinisla.

Together, these activities continue to expand the reach of Our Food Roots' research, campaigns and educational resources while helping ensure our work remains grounded in the realities of Irish agriculture.

Explore the Latest Insights

Our latest Disconnected Consumer infographic is now available through the Our Food Roots Learning Hub, with further consumer insights and communications resources continuing to be added over the coming months.

If there are topics or resources you'd like to see explored, we'd love to hear your suggestions.

Looking ahead

The impact of our work on water quality communications has strengthened our belief that preparing people to communicate is just as important as preparing the messages themselves.

Over the coming months, we will build on this approach by developing new communications resources, expanding our network of sector advocates and continuing to deliver workshops that support confident, evidence-based engagement on emerging topics including nature restoration and animal welfare.

At the same time, work continues towards the launch of We Make Greatness From Grass later this autumn - an important milestone in our mission to reconnect more people with Irish food, farming and the people behind it.