by Trish Robertson, Chair of Highland Council Climate Change Workshop Group
During times of stress, we often turn to food for comfort and security. We bond together over meals and drinks together. It is a social pastime. Food supply is intrinsic to our survival.
During WWII garden ground was used to grow food to augment everyone’s individual rations. The population was encouraged to literally “Dig For Victory.” My grandfather had an allotment and grew vegetables and fruit for the family. Jams and puddings were made from the fruit from the garden. My father followed this habit to help feed his own family. In times when money was not plentiful the produce was a welcome addition to the table. Many families on the council estate where I grew up had a plentiful supply of seasonal food coming straight out of their gardens.
Over the decades since, society has changed so we have a huge variety of things to spend our ,oney and leisure time on. Over the last 50 years, we have seen huge changes to income, and as home more homes have been built, gardens have become smaller and rent have got higher.
Food growing is now sometimes seen as an intensive exercise, compared to the ease of just buying food in a supermarket. We have also lost the idea of eating with the seasons, as food is available all year round. The cost of food now also takes up significantly less of our income, as the cost of living has gone up.
Despite these changes in our food system, it is undeniable that growing your own food brings a certain satisfaction, as well as other benefits to our health and wellbeing. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in food growing, but what holds people back now is a lack of knowledge and skills, and access to land.
The Highland Good Food Partnership will highlight some of these obstacles, and also showcase how communities and producers working together can overcome these. This will be the opportunity to get involved in reducing food miles, and to eat locally grown food straight from field to fork.
We in the Climate Change Working Group are very excited to support the Highland Good Food Partnership.