Meet local – eat local

by Nicola Martin

The thing about standing up and shouting on the subject of local produce is that it begins to impact on all areas of your personal and professional life! Buying berries in Tesco in February is not really an option for me anymore!

Neither, I have recently begun to realise, is booking an event, a meeting or even a girls get together in a venue that does not support local produce and local suppliers. This isn’t a rule imposed on me by anyone – it’s a decision I have made as a business and an individual that is a reflection of my own principles. The thing is, if I have made this decision then so have many others.

When living in Perthshire, satisfying a meeting place for a decent cup of coffee and an informal chat isn’t difficult. With a wealth of excellent farm shops – Gloagburn, Brig and Jamesfield to name a few – allow you a five-minutes-out-of-town-location with some of the best home-baking you’ve ever tasted! Easy solution!

Large scale events may be a bit trickier – what does an events venue mean when it says that it uses local produce? I have found this to be a difficult question to answer. Chefs want to give the WOW factor at these types of affair and although local beef or venison may be the order of the day, serving berries in February – the aforementioned sin – is a popular choice. Apparently though, this is what we want.

So, how do we convince the big players that event organisers and their delegates will favour them on the basis of local ingredients and local suppliers? It’s simple – when you call to book a venue for a meeting or a dinner or a large scale event ask them what their policy is concerning local produce – insist on a few of the ingredients coming from this area. Neither your conscience nor your taste buds will regret it!