Roger Rabbitte is happy if you munch on his salad leaves

TOM GILMORE meets organic salad producer Roger Rabbitte â€â€ a man who believes in eating your greens GOING GREEN when it comes to producing food is a passion for Dunmore man Roger Rabbitte who recently launched his 'New Leaf Farm' organic mixed salad leaves and fresh organic spinach on local supermarkets shelves. Roger's mixed salad leaves, including Butterhead, Cos, Crisphead, Mibuna, Mizuna, Claytonia, Lambs Lettuce, Rocket, Red Orache as well as some Marigold flower petals for decoration, are delivered to shops within two hours of being picked at the family farm at Lissyconner near Dunmore. 'There is not a carrot in sight,' laughed Mr Rabbitte as he proudly pointed to the lettuce and other salad leaves germinating in a glass house as well as others which were ready for harvesting in a nearby poly tunnel. The Organic Trust certification body gave organic status to produce from the farm in May 2010. Since then the Rabbitte family's concentration has been focused on building up a herd of organic Aberdeen Angus cattle for specific customers, and more recently, organic salad production for supermarkets. His 'New Leaf Farms' salad leaves are pre-packed on the farm and delivered to local supermarkets including Howley's Eurospar, Dunmore and Joyces 365 Supermarkets in Tuam and Knocknacarra. 'It's very much a one person operation at present but the hope is that the business will continue to grow,' says Roger. He sometimes enlists the help of wwoofers (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) when harvesting the salad leaves. The young wwoofers are volunteers who are usually linked to an international organisation, WWOOF. It puts them in contact with organic farmers. In return for volunteer help, WWOOF host farmers, such as Roger, offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles. 'They avail of the opportunity to learn and experience farming and local culture. After a month or two they then move on to the next farm or sometimes to the next country. 'The wwoofing system gets people out and about and is invigorating to the lives of both farmer and wwoofer.' To date New Leaf Farm has had volunteers from France, Germany, Australia and Ireland itself, he says. Apart from growing and harvesting the salad leaves the big challenge for a small producer such as Roger is to get his produce accepted by the customers. But he says that so far the reaction has been very positive for New Leaf Farms products. 'The advantage to the consumer of the mixed salad leaves is that they get the youngest leaves of the plant containing the highest nutrition and freshness as they are the picked hours before delivery. 'A variety of tastes and textures can be experienced. There is no wastage and the product lasts a long time when stored in a fridge. No washing or processing takes place, allowing the goodness of the plant to remain, giving the consumer the very best product possible,' says Roger. He added that any salad leaves that are unsold are removed from the supermarket shelves within two days and this ensures freshness of produce at all times. 'All the customer has to do is rinse the salad leaves, add a dressing and serve in minutes. We take great care in hand picking the salads early in the morning. 'The consumer gets not only good value for money but good food value too - a fact often forgotten when buying food,' he added. Because of the non use of chemical fertilisers the fertility of the soil to grow the vegetables is achieved from the waste of the Aberdeen Angus cattle on the Rabbitte's family farm. This is composted for approximately 12 months eliminating any risk of e coli. Sides of organic Angus Beef, prepared by an Organic Trust approved butcher, are also sold to order to specific customers. It was while he was living in Germany, for over seven years, that Roger noticed an ever increasing interest in organically produced foods. When he returned to Ireland he worked for a number of years supplying stainless steel kitchen equipment to hotels and bars. But with the downturn in the economy he decided to look at organic farming as an alternative career. Roger completed a nine month commercial organic grower's course, under the National Organic Training Skillnet programme, with Jim Cronin in Bridgetown, Co Clare. Jim has 25 years experience in growing organically and the course is recognised as being one of the best of its type available as it deals with all aspects of commercial organic growing, and the marketing of the produce. 'Ireland is an ideal country for producing organic foods as we have a good reputation for our food. Our soil is free of toxins and we have air that is also free of pollutants as this country has much less major industries than Germany or England,' says Roger . He added that his New Leaf Farm hopes to extend sales of the organic mixed salad leaves and fresh organic spinach to other shops and supermarkets in the Galway and Mayo area soon. He also expects to continue production into the winter months by growing different varieties of salads which can withstand colder temperatures. 'To date we find that once a customer has tried our products they tend to buy it again. 'We hope that this trend will grow and we expect to increase the production area next year,' says Roger. His organic mixed salad leaves (100g) retail for €2.49 or 2 for €4.25 and the fresh organic spinach (200g pack) retails for €1.99. 'These prices are competitive when compared to other brands, and of course rather than purchasing imported salads or vegetables, buying local produce is highly beneficial to the Irish economy,' concluded Roger.