SUSTAINABLE FOOD AND OUR GOOD FOOD NATION

I was delighted to address the Sustain: The Alliance For Better Food And Farming in Parliament, recently.

It was heartening to see so many people from so many different parts of the UK all working to improve food sustainability and undertake work in their own community to deliver local foods projects – more important than ever when our food security is under threat. It was lovely to make connections with some of those at the front line of this work.

It was an excellent opportunity to discuss The Scottish Government's Good Food Nation Bill which was passed in June last year, reinforcing the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensuring that everyone in Scotland has access to healthy nutritious food. This is important since good, healthy nutritious and affordable food is fundamental to our health and wellbeing.

The act of growing, cultivating, sharing and cooking local produce is also something about which school pupils across North Ayrshire & Arran are learning about and loving learning about, about sustainable food. I was delighted to meet Arran Eco Savvy Sustainable Food Co-ordinator, Jess Wallace at the event. (pictured below)

The very act of teaching young people about the very beginning of the production of healthy fruit and vegetables and how these can be used in meals equips them with all sorts of skills, not least the importance of healthy eating and cooking, as they discover the value of make informed choices about the food they eat.

But, of course, buy in from the whole community is very important when we seek to act, discuss and learn about sustainable and healthy food.

The debate about sustainable food is very much taking place at grass roots level with growing awareness and a transformational approach in how we access, grow, eat and think about food in a sustainable way.

There is a huge amount of wonderful work in this regard going on in my constituency of North Ayrshire & Arran and across Scotland.