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Promoting Scottish produce
23/05/2008
Seasonal, fresh produce will be on the menu for the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment as he eats Scottish food for one week from today (Friday May 23).
As the first Cabinet Secretary to 'eat Scottish' and the lead on Scotland's first-ever National Food Policy, the week will be tied into a series of visits focusing on his areas of responsibility for primary food producers from farming to fishing.
During the week, Richard Lochhead will be enjoying the best of what Scotland has to offer in terms of high-quality meat, fish, vegetables and dairy products, as part of a healthy, balanced and easily prepared diet.
Mr Lochhead said:
"Scotland is home to some of the freshest, finest food in the world and supporting our home-grown produce is in our national interest.
"We are developing the first ever cross-cutting national food policy for Scotland, which goes far beyond what we eat and takes into account the impact of food on all aspects of life from business and industry to education and health.
"Following on from the First Minister's week of 'eating Scottish' earlier this year, I have committed to my own week of eating only Scottish produce using simple, everyday recipes. This is also in support of Stephen Jardine's year long pledge to eat only Scottish food.
"As a Government Minister, like many busy people I don't always have time to cook a meal from scratch after work. However by using basic Scottish ingredients from milk, eggs and cheese to meat, fish and vegetables, I will be supporting local food producers while enjoying a tasty, varied diet.
"I am keen to show people that eating Scottish doesn't have to be complicated. During the course of the week I will be enjoying a wide variety of dishes from a simple Scottish cheese sandwich to Scottish Roast Pork.
"From speaking to people across Scotland during our recent food discussion, I know there is a growing appetite for seasonal, quality, local produce. I will be checking labels when out shopping and asking about the origin of the food when eating out - simple things we can all do in our day-to-day lives to check where our food comes from.
"This shows that through supporting local food we can all work towards a healthier, wealthier, greener Scotland in line our National Food Policy, which aims to deliver the freshest, finest future for Scottish food.
"It also flags up an important green message, that by buying more seasonal and unpackaged food we can help cut down the environmental impact of our food."
The emphasis of the week will be on building Scottish ingredients into everyday meals, checking the labels when out shopping and asking where food comes from when eating out in restaurants and canteens.
Alongside everyday dishes, recipes for Mr Lochhead's 'Eating Scottish' week were provided by Quality Meat Scotland, NFUS, Seafood Scotland and Martin Wishart.
The Scottish Government is developing its first-ever crossing cutting policy on food, taking into account all aspects of government policy from farm gate to plate. For details of the recent discussion on a National Food Policy.
The NFU Scotland campaign, What's on your Plate? aims to support Scottish food and and farming.