Sir, – Ella McSweeney is right: the river Glyde fish kill is a national emergency, not a local incident (“Wild salmon are on the verge of extinction”, June 14th).We must name the killing of more than 20,000 fish for what it is: ecocide. These fish were not stock, but individual living beings. Combining this event with the EPA’s finding that water quality remains “unsatisfactory”, this is systemic failure, not isolated incidents.The source of the pollution – agricultural discharge – shows our food system still permits environmental destruction as a byproduct. The irony is stark: we create food to sustain us, while systematically destroying the environment that sustains us.As the article “More investment in innovation and research needed from Irish food sector” (June 18th) notes, the food and drink sector spends only 0.7 per cent of turnover on R&D. This reveals a deeper problem: we are not investing in the innovation needed to decouple food production from environmental harm.Protecting ecosystems must shape food production. Recognising that we are part of the ecosystem and respecting it is key to protecting it, protecting us and our future on this planet. – Yours, etc,LOUISA MOSS,Dublin 7.
The source of much of our ecocide is ironic: food production
We create food to sustain us, while systematically destroying the environment that sustains us
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