“She loved her family, friends, and food” might be the most appropriate future epitaph for me.

Devotion to friends and family are a given, but my life-long love of good food comes a close third. I love food and will go to significant efforts to seek out a delicious morsel.

For me, it is not just sustenance on a plate, although I do believe ‘you are what you eat’. The food we eat is about nourishment, culture, connection, pleasure, community, commerce, climate, and so much more.

Living in Cork city, we are fortunate to be surrounded by plenty of others who see the crucial importance of good food as a core component of health and happiness.

Some of those food lovers and growers are professionals who spend their daily energy growing or serving up food and meals that nourish us. Blessed be the growers and the cooks!

Cork On A Fork Fest returns next week to celebrate Cork food’s place at the top table of Irish cuisine. It’s not just about fine dining and fancy meals, though there are exciting options for a splurge night out in Cork’s top restaurants. It is about where food comes from, who is making it, and how it can bring us together.

The festival programme is extensive, and if you are not one of those poor souls for whom ‘food is just fuel’, you’ll find an event that piques your fancy.

Maybe a cob-oven pizza in Knocknaheeny, spit-roasted pork with storytelling in Glenbrook Farm, or migrant chefs sharing their dishes over an evening at........

© Evening Echo