What is the point of Nourish? Ten years banging on about food and then what happened in the Programme for Government? Nothing. A space where something should have been. Programme for Government sets out the Scottish Government’s priorities for the year ahead. Nutrition isn’t one of them.
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It is a pub question waiting to happen: Which state sponsored a chain of 2,000+ restaurants serving a nutritionally balanced, price-capped menu to the general public? Russia? China? Venezuela? The correct answer is the UK under a Conservative Prime Minister. British Restaurants operated across Britain during 1940’s
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Try mentioning the “agricultural subsidy reform”, and see the light drain from other people’s eyes. Apart from a handful of die-hard enthusiasts, the new Agriculture Bill is failing to ignite the nation’s imagination. But it should! The government is designing a new farming subsidy system – the
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Today’s Programme for Government (PfG) offers welcome measures to mitigate the impact of the cost of living crisis on food insecurity. It also promises further action for more nature friendly farming, forestry and fishing. Food is scattered in other portfolios too, and it is clear that the
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Tom Cruise fans waiting for the latest instalment next month have already seen a car chase trailer with a 5 series 540i BMW. Even driven much more carefully than in the film, this gas guzzler struggles to do better than 20 miles per gallon. Since 2020, the
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The Scottish Government is currently on consultation overdrive, but 4 key consultations fit so closely together that it’s almost impossible to respond to one without referring to the others. In the words of Scottish Government: ‘Agricultural Transition in Scotland’ asks us to consider a successor to the
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It’s hard not to be impressed by this year’s Programme for Government. There’s a definite green tinge and a renewed focus on getting stuff done as hopefully we emerge from the pandemic. When it comes to food, it’s a jigsaw puzzle with bits and pieces scattered across
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Last week’s report from the National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership set out ambitious recommendations not just to incorporate new rights into domestic law but also to strengthen the machinery for making them real. The Taskforce recommends a Scottish human rights bill incorporates (brings into domestic law)
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The climate in Scotland is generally considered unsuitable for growing bread wheat. Yet, across the country there are dedicated people growing, milling and baking great bread with Scottish grains. This summer, as part of my internship placement with Nourish Scotland and Scotland The Bread, I interviewed these
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It’s natural to put ‘food’ into the search box and see what this 135 page document says. But that would miss some of the most important messages. First, of course, the incorporation into Scots law of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This has
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