Estates gif t venison and pheasant to help festive food banks
FOOD banks are usually stocked with cans of food and other groceries picked up during the weekly shop.
But estate owners in Aberdeenshire are donating fresh pheasant and venison to the needy in their community this Christmas.
Vulnerable families involved with the Home-Start charity will sit down to a Christmas dinner with something special from the local area.
The fresh game will be plucked, prepared and ‘ lardered’ in advance. And if the families are not used to cooking pheasant, recipe sheets will be provided for roast pheasant with root vegetable dauphinoise and venison mince.
The Scottish Gamekeepers Association yesterday announced the donations, which include an entire deer from a local shooting syndicate and logs and vegetables from the Queen’s Balmoral estate.
The 40 pheasants will come from Tillypronie in Aboyne, inherited from Lord and Lady Astor by their son, barrister Philip Astor, and his wife Justine Picardie, editor of upmarket fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar.
Mr Astor, a godson of the Duke of Edinburgh, said: ‘The reason for doing this is that we wanted to help, particularly at Christmas, so that some vulnerable people could get a proper Christmas meal. I think pheasant is an underrated foodstuff and I would be delighted if people have a taste of something they might not have had or might not have thought of having before.’
The project came into being after landowners, councillors and gamekeepers learned how heavily subscribed their local food bank in Banchory, Aberdeenshire, had become.
Alex Hogg, chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Associa- tion, said: ‘This all started when our members were talking... about the fact there were so many people having to go to food banks. They wanted to do something to help and felt that estates and shoots could get involved because of the game that was produced.’
A syndicate led by Scottish Gamekeepers Association member Audrey Dykes will provide one female deer and Balmoral will send out Christmas trimmings, i ncluding Brussels sprouts and carrots, plus logs.
Around 20 families will be given the food packages, which will be delivered from Monday up until Christmas Day.
The families, several of whom are described as the ‘working poor’, will also receive printed recipes, with clear cooking instructions.
Aberdeenshire councillor Geva Blackett, who helped plan the project, said: ‘It may not always be so high profile but rural poverty is an issue of concern.
‘Some may be finding it hard to heat their houses in winter, let alone have the means to cook and eat good quality fresh food. It has been great working with people in the local area to see what can be done to help.’
Councillor Linda Clark, senior coordinator at family support charity Home- Start, said she had been delighted by the volunteers who have come forward to supply and deliver food.
She said: ‘ Having worked myself in the voluntary services, I know there are financially vulnerable people who will find things tougher in winter. I commend everyone involved because this is practicality in action at community level.
‘As we know, Christmas can be an expensive time for all of us.’
‘Rural poverty is a concern’