STEVENSON WELCOMES NEW CROSS-PARTY GROUP ON FOOD

MSP ASTONISHED AS GREENS ATTACK LOCAL PRODUCER

Banff & Buchan MSP Stewart Stevenson has welcomed the new Cross-Party Group on Food which was formed at a meeting in the Scottish Parliament last night.

The SNP MSP has been a long-time supporter of initiatives to highlight local food and produce and to support local food producers. Last month, Mr Stevenson visited Downies of Whitehills with Euro-MP Ian Hudghton to highlight Scottish Food Fortnight.

Speaking from his Scottish Parliament office, Mr Stevenson said:

“The formation of this new Cross-Party Group is a welcome development and one which I wholeheartedly support. Among non-MSPs at our inaugural meeting, we had a wealth of knowledge and expertise from across various organisations charged with food promotion and encouraging healthy eating and I hope that local food producers will be able to come to future meetings and tell MSPs first-hand of their experiences in the marketplace.

“I was particularly pleased that our first speaker was Ian Sandison of Aberdeenshire Council who is in charge of sourcing food for the council’s schools. The council certainly seem to have made good progress in supporting local producers and that is exactly the sort of attitude I wish to see in the public sector.

“However, the one sour note of the event was when Green Party leader Eleanor Scott stated that schoolchildren should be encouraged not to drink the excellent water and water products which are produced locally by Sangs of Macduff and are now available to schoolchildren in Aberdeenshire Council’s schools.

“This was a quite astonishing statement to make in view of the fact that these products are produced by a successful local company and are infinitely more healthy for children than certain brands of cola I could mention. The Greens need to think again about how they view our successful local food and drink producers if they wish to be taken seriously.”