Slow Food in Scotland
Slow Food has a strong presence in Scotland and is helping to make a statement that food security can be promoted by bringing neighbours and community members together in the spirit of goodwill and for the joy of sharing good local food. That is the heart of the Slow Food movement and, from an outsider's eyes, it is also the core of true Scottish character.
Scotland is already publicly rejecting the notion that schools can't afford to feed kids anything but low-grade, nutritionally deficient food. The Scottish Food Policy is a lighthouse for the rest of the UK.
Group Visits
Our visit to Scotland in September left us impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm for Slow Food in Scotland. We also found our colleagues there operating in a more progressive political arena around food policy. This has much to do with the Scottish government's interest in dealing seriously with food issues such as dietary health, sustaining rural economies and developing tourism.
One of the key requests from our leaders in Scotland was to allow them a more powerful way of identifying themselves. Unfortunately, the frequently unhappy history of relations between Scotland and England has left Scots identifying less with the descriptor "UK". As a solution, we have been delighted to enable Scottish groups to work under a banner of "Slow Food in Scotland" (their relationship with and administration by Slow Food UK remains as before). A logo has been created for this initiative using the official saltire blue - see below.
As always, we met some extraordinary members and leaders on our visits. Keith Jackson's innovative approach to livestock farming on Skye and Howard Wilkinson's tireless work for producers in Ayrshire were particularly inspiring. We are now working to bring members a system that allows them to communicate more easily and widely in the Slow Food network, thereby expanding and sharing knowledge and creating a unique resource.
