Local Food for Everyone: Our Journey

Section 4 - The Benefits of Local Food

What we mean by ‘local food’

Local food is generally used to describe the connection between food producers and consumers within a given geographical area. For the purposes of the strategy, local food will mean anything that is crafted, grown, raised, harvested or manufactured in Scotland.

Local food will have some, or all, of the following features:

• It is produced locally - this includes people’s own town, region or elsewhere in Scotland;
• It has short supply chains, meaning there are fewer steps between the primary producer of the food, such as a farmer, and the consumer
• It is sustainably produced (i.e. produced in a way that is better for the natural environment);
• It is produced in a way that places an emphasis on building better relationships of trust, information, fairness and support between local food producers and the people buying and consuming their food.

This definition reflects the fact that local food means different things to different people. In the minds of Scottish consumers, there is no single interpretation of what is meant by ‘local’ (my region: 40%, Scotland: 39%, my town or city: 18%, UK: 3%)^[1] . This opinion was also echoed in the Local Food Strategy consultation analysis.

The Scottish Government celebrates this diversity of views and aims to make sure people can enjoy local food, whether that means it was produced in their garden, their town, their region, or elsewhere in Scotland.

Reducing barriers to food

Designing and empowering local food systems so they are accessible to those facing the greatest barriers will maximise the benefits for all. Access to local food systems aligns with the Scottish Government’s ambition for local living and 20-minute neighbourhoods, thus creating thriving, positive places that help tackle the structural inequalities underpinning poverty, as well as having a positive impact on living costs. Partnership working across sectors and services can help to overcome barriers through a shared and coherent ambition to make good food accessible locally. The knowledge and experience of community food organisations and social enterprises are a valued part of our local food landscape. Employment in local food can provide households with sustainable and secure incomes, preventing poverty and hardship.

No one should have to compromise on food or other essentials, and low income should not be a barrier to a healthy, balanced diet. We take a human rights approach to household food insecurity which is why we promote cash-first responses, as outlined in our Cash-First Plan towards ending the need for food banks.

We also continue to invest in responses that maximise dignity and integrate help to reduce future need, and we see many community organisations finding ways to link households with local food as part of a coordinated response to this issue.

Scotland’s geography and the specific needs of rural and island areas

The geography of Scotland means that there is enormous diversity in how easy it is to produce or obtain food. Islands and rural areas, for example, face acute challenges including higher costs for food, predominantly because of transport costs. This means that the cost of a standard basket of goods on an island can be substantially higher than on parts of the mainland. This situation can be further impacted by reliance on fragile transport links and dependence on ferries to get main supplies. The unavoidable breakdowns, bad weather and capacity issues on ferries can also heighten these challenges. Delays can impact not only quality and freshness but also on basic supply. Encouraging and supporting local production through the concept of local living, where different settlements work as coordinated networks, is a potential mitigation for this.

Agriculture also faces challenges in these areas - getting food supplies on, and food products and animals for slaughter off the islands, as well as having limited access to specialist help for things like machinery repairs is a challenge at times, particularly in winter.

However, ‘produced on an island’ has the potential to enhance the appeal of a product, adding something special to its story. Of the 14 Scottish products protected under the EU protected names scheme, five are from our islands, demonstrating the importance of these areas to the Scottish food landscape.

Shetland Islands Council – local food story

Shetland Islands Council (SIC) spend over £650,000 annually and serve over 2500 meals to the people of Shetland each day. SIC have achieved the Food for Life Award across all education settings.

Using local suppliers helps reduce Shetland’s fragility at the end of the supply chain and increases resilience. Covid showed that long and complex supply chains are fragile - by supporting local growers and producers, resilience can be built and can encourage local skills like farming, butchery and bakery.

The Catering team currently buys:

• All milk directly from Shetland Farm Dairies, who deliver to all of their schools;
• All the fish (except tuna) is landed in Shetland and delivered fresh across the islands;
• Shetland Lamb which is used on the school menu;
• All bread and rolls that are supplied by local bakeries;
• Locally grown carrots, neeps, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and tatties, which are becoming more available now as the local route to market becomes established;
• Local free-range eggs, which are the latest addition to the locally produced list for Shetland schools.

By encouraging local suppliers to engage with the Council, SIC are providing a potential route to market. Reliable, long-term contracts also help them grow resilience and plan their business. By supporting local farmers, growers and producers, the Council can help to ensure that they will be here in the future. This is vital for Shetland’s long-term food security.

Many of the schools in Shetland also grow vegetables in polytunnels. This is a wonderful way to help children learn about food, seasonality and creates a sense of excitement and pride.

SIC’s efforts have won many awards for their work, including ‘Sustainable School of the Year’ award in 2023 from the Scottish School Food Awards and the ASSIST FM award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Catering 2023’.

Crofting

A significant amount of crofting activity revolves around livestock production and, in many areas, this is associated with low-intensity systems of high nature value. This helps to provide a natural balance between food production and the environment, creating a rich diversity of wildlife habitats that are home to many species.

The Scottish Government’s vision for common grazings is to continue to support food production, and peatland and habitat restoration by working with crofters, grazing committees and other stakeholders to promote collaborative efforts and deliver these priorities.

With 10% of Scotland’s land under crofting tenure, including many areas rich in biodiversity and with potential for carbon sequestration, it is vital that crofting is supported to play its part in helping address climate change and biodiversity loss. Through legislation, we will aim to make it easier for grazing committees in collaboration with the owner of the common grazing, to use the common for purposes other than agriculture, such as for renewable energy developments, peatland restoration, woodland creation and agritourism.

The Scottish Government published its ’National Development Plan for Crofting’ in March 2021. It highlights the core elements necessary to ensure that crofting remains at the heart of our rural and island communities, and forms a critical part of the support this Government will be offering to crofters and crofting communities.

The Plan considers how climate change and the loss of biodiversity will affect crofting and how crofting activities can be undertaken in a way that further contributes to the enhancement of the environment, landscapes and biodiversity. It also encourages croft diversification into agritourism, woodland regeneration, the restoration of our degraded peatland and creation of local food networks.

The Plan contains a list of priorities which aim to encourage crofters to work collaboratively to develop their businesses, share knowledge, access new markets and connect with others in the food and drink sector. The Scottish Government is working with the Scottish Crofting Federation to connect crofters with local food networks and Regional Food Groups, as well as exploring the possibility of a crofting food network and crofting brand. This will help reduce food miles and contribute to food security in our often fragile rural and island areas.

Organic

Organic is one method of sustainable production and will play an important part in helping us realising our vision of Scotland becoming a leader in sustainable and regenerative farming. We are committed to doubling the land under organic management in Scotland by 2026. We will support this by working with the organic sector and industry to create a Scottish organic food and farming action plan, helping to create opportunities for more Scottish grown organic produce to be available to people locally.

Health

The act of growing food brings multiple health benefits. Increased access to greenspace for the purposes of growing food, and more generally, has positive impacts on health and wellbeing, as well as the benefits from consuming the food produced. Increased visibility of food growing initiatives within communities contribute to the place quality, can increase interest and awareness, and opportunities for education, and therefore the health benefits can be felt more widely.

Scottish qualitative research with people who have engaged in urban farms reports health benefits in the form of increased physical activity, greater intake of fruit and vegetables, as well as the ability to grow a greater variety of vegetables which are fresher than those available in shops^[2]. Community gardening projects across Scotland have been associated with mental health benefits^[3].

The opportunity to buy good quality and healthy food locally has benefits for our places and communities. Where local food is available, it can increase social cohesion through forging community and commercial relationships and enhance the sense of loyalty and pride within a place, whilst increasing resilience.

National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET)

The National Strategy for Economic Transformation sets bold and ambitious actions to deliver fairer, greener prosperity for all of Scotland’s people and places, and to make our economy more sustainable and resilient in the longer term. Scotland has extraordinary economic potential through our natural resources, talent, creativity, academic institutions and business base. However, Scotland also has areas where significant improvement in performance is needed. The strategy’s six programmes of action focus on stimulating entrepreneurship, opening new markets, increasing productivity, developing the skills we need for the decade ahead, ensuring fairer and more equal economic opportunities and creating a new culture of delivery.

NSET has a sharp focus on those policies and actions with the greatest potential to grow and change Scotland’s economy, maximising Scotland’s strengths and natural assets. Scotland already occupies a position of global leadership in the design, development and operationalisation of a range of current and future key industries. This includes Scotland’s long-standing strengths in premium food and drink products, a key export market, and the transition to technologies of the future, including vertical farming.

Community Wealth Building

Community Wealth Building (CWB) is the practical means through which we can achieve our wellbeing economy vision as outlined in our NSET, by fundamentally transforming what our economy is for and how it operates locally, regionally and nationally. CWB considers ways in which wealth is generated, circulated and distributed, encouraging actions that can create a fully functioning and sustainable wellbeing economy.

Increasing the proportion of food that is grown, processed and consumed locally will keep value within local, regional and national economies, supporting jobs across agriculture, retail, tourism, manufacture and hospitality.

A thriving and accessible local food and drink sector can contribute to wider public priorities such as national and household food security and our diet and healthy weight objectives.

Local economy and employment

Sourcing food locally can provide better returns for local communities. For example, FFL Scotland encourages local authorities to use healthy, locally sourced ingredients and estimates that every £1 invested by FFL Scotland certified local authorities over three years can yield social return on investment of £4.41 in value in the local economy^[4]. A UK case study from 2002 indicated that £10 spent on a locally sourced organic produce box scheme generated £25 for the local economy (24km from the farm), compared with £14 generated for the local economy if that £10 had been spent in the supermarket^[5].

Aquaculture and seafood trade

Aquaculture is an increasingly important industry for Scotland - it helps to sustain economic growth in the rural and island communities of the north and west and produces nutritious food, with a greenhouse gas emissions profile that is lower than many other farmed sources of animal protein.

We recently published our Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture which sets out our long-term aspirations for the finfish, shellfish and seaweed farming sectors. The nine-point Vision outlines our support for the sustainable development of a sector that produces high-quality healthy foods and delivers significant economic benefits to Scotland. The Scottish Government supports the development of a sustainable aquaculture sector, operating within environmental limits, and recognises the considerable social and economic benefits the sector delivers today and can deliver in the future.

The Scottish seafood industry is hugely integral to the success of the Scottish economy, which ultimately feeds into the strength of the overall UK economy. We retained our commitment to Scotland’s seafood sector with the publication of the Seafood Strategy in October 2022, which affirms the importance of the seafood sector and sets out how we are supporting industry to contribute to achieving our Blue Economy aspirations.

Seafood has a hugely important role in domestic food security and providing a high-quality, low-carbon, healthy food source; this is a priority of the Scottish Government, as set out in the Blue Economy Vision. Our marine environment contributes significantly to our commitment to being a Good Food Nation, with locally sourced seafood also forming part of a healthy sustainable diet.

Nearly 300,000 tonnes of seafood was landed into Scotland in 2021 (Peterhead in Aberdeenshire is the largest fishing port in the UK), much of which needs to be processed. Seafood production is critical to the wider sector supply chain and local economies.

The seafood sector remains the lifeblood of many rural, island and coastal communities around Scotland. The socio-economic impacts of the marine sectors in Scotland, through both domestic and international lenses, can therefore not be overstated.

Tourism

Food is a key part of Scotland’s tourism and hospitality offer. Tourism and hospitality should benefit every person who lives in, visits and works in Scotland - we are seeking to make Scotland a world leader in 21st century tourism. Our Tourism Strategy, Scotland Outlook 2030, is focused on four key priorities to realise this ambition: our passionate people, our thriving places, our diverse businesses and our memorable experiences. Each of these strands will enhance Scotland’s international reputation for high-quality food and a world-leading approach to food systems.

Visitors to Scotland already spend around £1 billion a year on food and drink with sector ambitions to unlock the growth potential and secure extra spend on local food and drink.

Climate

There is a close link between climate change, the food we produce and the food we eat. Food production is likely to be impacted by changes in climate at a time when global demand for food is increasing.

Scottish Ministers have a statutory requirement to meet the economy wide emissions reductions targets set out in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2019. These include a 75% reduction in emissions (from a 1990 baseline) by 2030 and net zero by 2045. Simultaneously, the Scottish Government recognises that more needs to be done to build resilience to the impacts that climate change is having and will increasingly have on communities and businesses. We also recognise that agriculture and food production relies on natural processes and so will always cause some degree of emissions.

It is therefore important that we continue to work together to support our farmers, crofters, producers and the supply chain to meet our environmental goals including our requirements under the Climate Change Act. In doing this, Scotland’s food production sector can be confident in its world-leading environmental credentials and enhance the reputation we have for high-quality food, both here and abroad.

The new Agriculture and Rural Communities Bill will be a key driver to help reduce agriculture climate emissions. From 2025, support payments will be linked to the contribution farmers and crofters make in delivering our climate and nature objectives, while continuing to produce high-quality food.

The Scottish Government values Scotland’s agriculture sector for their part in cutting emissions and addressing climate change in ways that actively benefit both the climate and nature. Many of our farmers and crofters are already taking positive action to produce food sustainably and help mitigate climate change.

Scottish Ministers remain clear in their commitment to support farmers and crofters to produce our food more sustainably, while making sure that agriculture continues to play its part in cutting emissions, mitigating climate, and restoring and enhancing nature and biodiversity. Delivered through a range of initiatives, the Scottish Government will continue to encourage the uptake of low carbon farming practices and invest in our farmers and crofters, by:

• Offering financial support;
• Providing practical advice and guidance;
• Offering skill development opportunities;
• Demonstrating the climate and business benefits of taking action.

The Scottish Government is also committed to a just transition to net zero by 2045. This is about supporting a net zero and climate resilient Scotland in a way that delivers fairness and tackles inequality and injustice. As part of this commitment, this year we are co-developing Just Transition Plans for key sectors, including one for Land Use and Agriculture.

Food waste

Zero Waste Scotland recently published the 2021 Scottish Food Waste Estimate. They estimate over 1 million tonnes of food waste was disposed of in 2021, with 59% coming from households, 27% from food and drink manufacturing and 14% from other sectors. Per capita, this is equivalent to 189 kg per person, per year, an increase of 2% from the 2013 baseline of 185 kg per person, per year. In absolute terms, 1.038 million tonnes of food waste was a 5% increase against the 2013 baseline.

Food waste in Scotland accounted for 30% of household waste carbon impacts, based on The Carbon Footprint of Scotland's Household Waste 2021. Reducing food waste will decrease greenhouse gas emissions and help our climate. To inform our future approach to tackle food waste, we reviewed our food waste reduction progress following the publication of our Food Waste Reduction Action Plan in 2019. The review provides context to the 2021 increase in food levels and reveals where there are gaps, challenges and opportunities for action on food waste. The findings in the review have helped inform proposals on the second consultation on the Circular Economy and Waste Route Map. This includes proposals to prioritise action with businesses and households to help us meet our 2030 50% food waste reduction target.

While it may be possible to reduce food waste by adopting short and local supply chains, there is no Scottish-specific evidence and very limited external evidence to support the idea that adopting short and local supply chains will always result in reductions in food waste. There are other benefits beyond food waste that can be associated with short and local supply chains that should be considered when addressing how to restructure our relationship with food and the infrastructure that provides it.

Food Loss

Food loss is the decrease of quantity and quality of food resulting from decisions and actions by primary producers, whereas food waste is the decrease in the quantity or quality of food resulting from decisions and actions by manufacturers, retailers, food service providers and consumers.

In Scotland, we want to produce more of our own food more sustainably, in line with our Vision for Agriculture and Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture.

We seek to make sure that more of the local food that is produced by our farmers, fishers and crofters is eaten – for the benefit of the businesses, consumers and the environment, and that waste is incorporated into the circular economy where possible. Measures being developed as part of the Agricultural Reform Programme will help do this by increasing the efficiency and sustainability of the sector, therefore increasing profitability at the same time. Relevant outcome themes in the Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture include Climate Change and Circular Economy, Community and Productivity, Supply Chain and Infrastructure.