Food Lochaber
As the climate and ecological emergency rises ever higher in importance for us all, local food has become central in our efforts to reduce our carbon emissions. To realise these reductions there is an increasing acknowledgment that underpinning the viability of small scale local food enterprises, is the economic context in which these businesses operate.
One approach to help build local food ecosystems has been to focus on the intersection between the primary and tourism sectors, supporting local food through the promotion of the place it was produced.
This year Stephen McDonach, Environmental Development Officer with Lochaber Environmental Group and founder of Food Lochaber, a collective of crofters and producers, journeyed to Iceland as part of a delegation of those in the food sector organised by Tourism Angles to find out how this might be done. Iceland’s remoteness coupled with the barriers the country faces in the production of food, for both local consumption and the tourism sector, bear many similarities with the challenges faced by those in the West Highlands of Scotland.
Iceland’s route covering some 900 km of roads along the North Atlantic Ocean, incorporates 21 towns and villages, and like the Scottish Government / Scottish Tourism Alliance’s agritourism strategy, aims to act as a vehicle that will not only drive sustainability but more evenly distribute the benefits of tourism with rural communities.
“As the Food Lochaber collective has grown”, Stephen said, “so too has the quality and the variety. But as 2021 summer’s growing season draws to a close and we reflect on our collective success in providing a sustainable offering for the people of Lochaber, the creative reinterpretations of those challenges by Destination Marketing Organisation, such as the ‘Arctic Coast Way’ in Iceland, may hold lessons applicable for others in the geographic and economic periphery like us in the West Highlands.”
“Food Lochaber has now grown to 28 producer members”, he added saying, “and we are excited to be getting closer to our busiest time of year on the approach to Christmas. Our customers recognise the quality of our produce, whether it’s Sourdough bread, venison, Soay lamb or lazybed grown potatoes. People are looking for depth and authenticity and know it when they see it, so we expect this Christmas season to be our best yet.”
Why not visit them at foodlochaber.org if you are looking for quality, local and sustainable food.