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Scots speak out on food
05/05/2008
Following an overwhelming response to the food discussion, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment thanked all contributors to the national discussion on food.
Over the three-month discussion period on the first-ever future food policy for Scotland, which ended on April 25:
- More than 25,000 unique visitors logged onto the Scottish Government website food pages
- Around 500 individual contributions were registered, including over 100 comments on the food blog
- Thousands of people attended events across the country to discuss the future food policy
Richard Lochhead said:
"I have been overwhelmed by the response to the food discussion and would like to thank everybody who commented for their valuable contributions. The wide array of responses show food is clearly a subject close to many of our hearts and is a clear indication of the food revolution that is taking place the length and breadth of Scotland.
"People have been telling us there is far more to food than what we put on our plate. The food discussion has taken into account all aspects of food production and consumption - from health and education to the economy and tourism.
"The responses to the discussion will be carefully considered to help develop Scotland's first-ever food policy. I will be making an indicative statement in June on the key findings of this discussion and the next steps we will be making as we develop a national food policy for Scotland.
"I know there are many challenges which lie ahead and I look forward to taking our food policy forward that can help support a sustainable food industry within a greener, healthier, wealthier Scotland."
Alongside individual responses, a wide range of industry and organisation contributions were made to the discussion including:
- Community Food and Health
- Federation of Small Businesses
- Eco-Schools Scotland
- Major food retailers
- NHS Scotland
- NFU Scotland
- Quality Meat Scotland
- RSPB Scotland
- Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society
- Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society
- Scottish Association of Farmers Markets
- Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers
- Scottish Consumer Council
- Scotland Food and Drink
- Scottish Food and Drink Federation
- Scottish Grocers Federation
- Scottish Out of School Care Network
- Seafood Scotland
- Soil Association Scotland
- The Fife Diet, Burntisland
- WWF Scotland
Many of the submissions came from organisations which held their own discussions and events involving thousands of people.
The national food policy, which would be the first of its kind in the UK, aims to join up government policy on every part of the food chain from farm gate to plate.
The discussion paper 'Choosing The Right Ingredients', covered a wide-range of potential areas for change including:
- New traceability schemes so people know where their food comes from
- Greater innovation to develop more low-fat, low-salt and low-sugar food
- Working with producers and retailers to deliver a more sustainable food chain
- The promotion and sale of more affordable, healthier and clearly labelled Scottish produce