MSP and Food Commission visit to Tyninghame Community Farm: where should it fit in the wider food system?
In 2024 the Food Farming & Countryside Commission (FFCC) organised a representative group of over 300 people across Britain to take part in a Citizens-Assembly dialogue: ‘The Food Conversation’. https://ffcc.co.uk/so-what-do-we-really-want-from-food. They voiced their concerns about the food system and deliberated on possible policy solutions. A follow up meeting was held with our local MSP, Paul McLennan, at Tyninghame Community Farm to discuss what a sustainable, healthy food system should look like. Others attending were Lyn Jardine, a local councillor, Tess Humble from the East Lothian Climate Action Network and Heather McFarlane, a Citizens’ Assembly participant. Following a tour of the farm and adjoining organic orchard, we discussed the findings of a FFCC consultation with the general public on food.
The Citizens Assembly came to a broad consensus about wanting accessible, affordable, healthy and sustainable food for all and a fairer deal for farmers. The Lothians group especially highlighted free healthy school meals, sustainable land use, curbing the power of large food corporations, more leadership from the Scottish Government and a ‘Womb to tomb’ lifelong food education framework.
Paul McLennan complemented what has already been achieved on the farm and welcomed the community supported agriculture model as an important component of a thriving food system in East Lothian. Such a model, scaled up across the county, could contribute to a more resilient, sustainable and healthy way of supplying food.
We agreed that small scale market garden horticulture will only ever be a small part of East Lothian’s overall agricultural land use. However, it would be a great improvement on the less than 2% of agricultural land currently used in East Lothian for growing crops for direct human consumption, despite us having some of the best land and climate for growing in Scotland. At present nearly all arable land is used for animal feed or alcohol.
We discussed the potential in East Lothian of harnessing the many food-related voluntary organisations to create a better food system, that allows everyone to get access to local, sustainably grown, fresh food, and to provide decent livelihoods to growers. But despite being a Scottish Government minister (for Housing), Paul McLellan was reluctant to engage in the macro-level policy decisions that are needed to facilitate this. These might include enabling households to spend more on food rather than housing, and changes in the way agricultural subsidies are allocated.
