The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Islanders looking ahead to life after coronavirus
Farmers on Arran are determined to grasp a ‘huge opportunity’ to boost food system and feed the community during pandemic
What if everyone in Scotland could benefit from a more resilient food system?
One in which consumers could more easily buy sustainable, local food, and farmers had more control over their produce and the price they were paid for it?
On the Isle of Arran, farmers have been looking ahead to what a sustainable, local food supply chain might look like after coronavirus.
In what could be a blueprint for mainland farmers, one group led by Soil Association Scotland are benchmarking the greenhouse gases they emit through farming with the intention of reducing the island’s carbon footprint.
Farmer and group member Alastair Dobson is managing director of Arran Dairies and Taste of Arran, a farming collective that markets local produce.
“With Taste of Arran we’ve been reducing food miles for 20 years, for example consolidating loads in and out, and we’re keen to extend our environmental credentials even further,” he said.
“It’s a huge opportunity for the food and drink sector, even more so during this current crisis.
“If we can transparently reference our environmental credentials it will give us an advantage nationally and internationally.”
Elsewhere on Arran, Andy and Jenny Macdonald of Woodside Farm grow and supply produce to schools in North
Ayrshire. As well as being farmers, they are also a short supply chain in themselves, showing the potential for finding new routes to market for farmers, including the public sector.
“People have seen empty shelves for the first time in modern history,” says Jenny.
“They’re beginning to realise that there needs to be more of a back-up to supply.”
As holders of the Food for Life Served Here gold award for their school meals since 2013, North Ayrshire Council has a long-standing commitment to supporting local suppliers.
“It’s all about prioritising local supply chains,” said Carolyn Hope, senior facilities manager at the council.
“As a council we see the value in low mileage supply of fresh food.”
Of the work Woodside Farm has done to supply schools with fresh, seasonal produce, and taking away waste to use as fertilizer on the farm, Carolyn said: “Those are the kind of things we want to build on as a council.
“There are exciting times ahead for
North Ayrshire.”
Woodside Farm also received funding from Highlands and Islands Enterprise to support a foodbank on Arran.
The Supporting Communities Fund aims to combat the economic impact of coronavirus through channelling support to community anchor organisations that are already active in local service provision.
“We’ll be doing our best this year to grow as much as we can for the people on the island who have lost their jobs,” said Jenny.
“Over the summer, we’ll supply the foodbank, and we’ll have plenty of produce to sell to schools when they go back.
“But the crisis has certainly reminded us of exactly why we do what do – get as many vegetables in the ground as we can to keep people fed.”