December 16, 2009
Growing interest in growing (and eating) local food
The past year has seen an explosion of interest in local food. The Fife Diet, Highlands and Islands Local Food Network, Children’s Orchard, North Kelvin Meadow and the growth of the allotments movement have all featured regularly in LPL Briefings. Following the first annual local food gathering held in Dunbar in October, plans are being laid to create a national network of local food projects
Building the Local Food Movement for Scotland
The past year has seen an explosion of interest in local food, as climate change, poor health, community development, allotments, gardening and organics have collided into a fertile agenda of grassroots change. For the first time different strands of this movement are working together in a conscious way to try to reflect and move forward. These include groups from Skye to Ayrshire from Fife to Fairlie from Moray to Toryglen, as well as Edinburgh, Linlithgow and right across the Borders. They all came together in Dunbar at the end of October for a weekend which was filled with talks, discussion and debate which concluded in what has become known as the …
Declaration of Dunbar
We are working towards a sustainable Scotland in which, in every region we produce more of what we eat and eat more of what we produce.
We believe a more localised food system would be better for the environment, health, community and economy of our country. We are building a movement to create a food system that:
• Is locally based with shorter supply chains.
• Promotes and respects seasonality.
• Is resilient.
• Is fair and accessible to all.
• Creates and maintains a sustainable livelihood for producers.
These steps are essential in order to ensure a fairer more equitable food system appropriate for a low carbon economy.