Aardaia aims to bring more species of plants to the table. Diversifying our food systems is crucial, both for our health and for the resilience of our food production.

For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by plants. I followed this passion and I completed a BSc. in botany at University College Dublin followed by a PhD in plant genetics at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Whilst I deepened my knowledge of the inner workings of plants in these academic environments, in evenings and on weekends I would go foraging, looking for wild plants to eat, learning their flavours and habits. I was constantly struck by the amazing diversity of edible wild plants I could find and how this contrasted so starkly with the small number of species on supermarket shelves.

Aardaia is born out of a desire to balance this discrepancy. I aim to combine my knowledge of plant genetics with my passion for wild food and forgotten crops to bring new flavours to our plates and resilience to our fields.

Pádraic