Take pride in the food we produce

One of the Scottish Parliament committees of which I am a member is the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee and part of our role in the time ahead will be to carry out the committee stage of scrutiny on the upcoming Good Food Nation Bill.

The bill lays the foundation for Scotland to become a Good Food Nation where people from all walks of life take pride and pleasure from the food they produce, buy, cook and eat each day.

It is about ensuring that everyone in Scotland has access to healthy, nutritious fare and that businesses and public kitchens commit to producing, selling and serving good food – and look at how they can boost local procurement, cut down food waste and packaging, use in-season produce as well disposing of food waste in an environmentally friendly way.

As you can imagine, this is a piece of legislation that is right up my street and I am really looking forward to helping ensure that it is the best it can be.

In another step to both help support our local food producers and to highlight the exceptional quality of Scottish food, I lodged a motion in parliament this week highlighting the #LambforStAndrewsDay campaign which, as the hashtag subtly suggests, is about encouraging everyone to make St Andrew’s Day special by cooking top quality Scotch lamb in celebration.

The original idea for the campaign was cooked up in 2010 by George Purves, chief executive of United Auctions and Willie Mitchell as part of the Scottish Enterprise Rural Leadership Programme and in the early days, my late brother Andrew created a bespoke menu for the campaign.

One of the best things about the campaign is the way in which it has engaged with our schools and I understand that 180 from throughout Scotland, including here in Perthshire, have plans to mark the event.

It is expected that over 10,000 pupils will be involved in cooking and serving over 30,000 portions of Scotch Lamb.

And it is not just in our schools that young people are engaging with the campaign.

The publicity brochure includes a name check for Perth Riverside Explorer Scouts who hosted an overnight camp at Greenhill Farm in Dunning, where 25 young leaders were challenged to cook lamb using ingenuity and traditional methods.

Traditional is still good, but this year’s campaign is promoting Scotch Lamb with a twist – celebrity chef Tony Singh has come on board and is offering up recipes such as Scotch Lamb Dhansak and Scotch Lamb Naan pizzas.

So, once we have Hallowe’en out of the way, you can start planning your dinner for St Andrew’s Day.

Any neeps that have escaped being carved into lanterns will be great alongside some good Scotch Lamb.

Roasted pumpkin works well too I’m sure!