Jamie McGrigor, Highlands & Islands MSP and Scottish Conservative Environment Spokesman, today praised those involved in last year’s Year of Natural Scotland. Jamie was speaking in a debate on the subject this afternoon in the Scottish Parliament, and took the opportunity also to promote the benefits of local food and drink products.
Speaking in the debate, Jamie said:
“The Year of Natural Scotland was launched to place the spotlight on some of Scotland’s great assets ahead of Scotland’s second Year of Homecoming in 2014.
“The initiative, delivered in partnership with VisitScotland and Scottish Natural Heritage, brought together a number of other agencies with an interest in promoting Scotland both at home and overseas - Creative Scotland, National Trust for Scotland, Historic Scotland, Scotland Food & Drink, Marine Scotland, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, to name just a few.
“The year got off to a great start with CNN voting Scotland the best country in the world to visit in 2013, partly because of the events due to take place for the Year of Natural Scotland.
“Throughout the year, more than 40 flagship events took place across the country, including John Muir Day, the Nature of Scotland Award, and the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.
“It was also about food and drink, and our world-class products.
“The Think Local initiative was set up to give advice to local food companies, networks, and communities, and deliver funding to a wide range of projects - such as local food marketing, food tourism, farmers’ markets, food festivals and events.
“The promotion of local goods is something we agree with fully.
“I like to think that our 2009 campaign, “Buy Local - Eat Local”, paved the way in the drive towards more locally produced food and the multiple benefits this can bring, from supporting home-grown businesses to reducing transport emissions. We have repeatedly stated the need to start increasing food production from our own resources and finding ways to remove barriers to food production, whether they come from the EU or red tape from Whitehall and Edinburgh.
“We have argued that local procurement must become the order of the day, with local hospitals, prisons, and schools using local produce where possible to reduce carbon footprint”.