The Highland Good Food Partnership team are now recovering from putting on three concurrent Good Food Gatherings on 19th September. But what amazing events they were! We were so pleased to see so many of you there, and what an eclectic mix of events, people and discussions. Thank you to the Highlands and Islands Climate Festival for helping to fund these gatherings. Read on to find out what we got up to at each Gathering, and see you at next year’s!
Spean Bridge Gathering
by Rachel Butterworth
We had a fantastic time at Glen Spean Brewing Company – and the sun shone nearly all day, despite the torrential rain forecast! Glen Spean Market stallholders definitely brought the vibe to our Gathering, and we had participants from the new Invergarry Community Garden too.
The stallholders had a rare chance to chat with each other, share good practice, and celebrate the successes of the long-running but ever-developing market.
We had great discussions on the challenges of sourcing local dairy. We heard inspiring examples of local circular economy – waste hops from Glen Spean Brewery are used as a mulch at Stronaba Produce, and waste malt goes to the brewery’s cows. And we had a fascinating Question Time for the stallholders – getting to ask all the awkward questions we wanted! Finishing off with a cookie-making competition, it really was a heart-warming event.
With very tasty soup from Faith’s Cafe, bread from The Bakery, a charcuterie platter from Great Glen Charcuterie and so much baking, it definitely filled up our stomachs too. Special thanks to the Glen Spean Brewing Company for hosting, and the Glen Spean Market for being fantastic event partners.
Grantown-on-Spey Gathering
by Charlotte Steel
We had a cosy and informative session at Grantown Hub, kindly hosted by The Grantown Society. Kicking off with a presentation on Grantown’s green and growing places and ‘Grantown Growing Together Network’. It was fascinating to get some historical perspective in relation to community green spaces, their use and opportunities for future food growing. And also to appreciate the hard work and commitment of volunteers in making it all happen.
Over a delicious lunch of soup, clootie dumpling and apple crumble provided by The Speyside Centre plus Hub volunteers, we were able to appreciate displays of local produce and thoughts on local food from the primary school. There were also micro-scale demos of butter making and apple pressing. Useful connections were made on future opportunities, particularly in relation to allotment sites and community development projects in the wider area.
Cannich Gathering
by Ele Forster
In today’s world, there’s not much more affirming than being in a hall full of people of all ages, talking about growing food and how to help each other.
It was a treat to have Kathy Bliss from the West Highland Dairy bringing her cheesemaking expertise, and our own Martin Sherring spreading the word about seed saving. I was blown away by the breadth and depth of local people’s knowledge, as they kindly manned stalls on apple varieties, food forests, composting, honey and veg growing while some of our young people ran kids activities.
An earlier conversation with Strathglass businesses, growers and farmers (aided by croissants donated by Cannich Stores!) saw new collaborations and plans for businesses and community to work together to create shorter, stronger supply chains in our area. Huge thanks to everyone who helped bring the event together, ran a stall, brought food for the potluck and manned the teas and coffees.
Cannich is a prime example of how HGFP can catalyse grassroots action on food, providing time and space for people to talk about the right thing with the right people and get our food system shifting to a better place. I’m excited to see what happens next!
