Советник от партии «Зеленые» в Шетландских островах возобновил традицию питания исключительно местными продуктами

Shetland Greens councillor returns to annual challenge of eating only Shetland-produce for September “What would happen if the NorthLink ferry just stopped coming to Shetland?” That was the question Greens councillor Alex Armitage posed himself as resumed his annual tradition of eating only Shetland produce throughout September. While today he suggested people in the isles are 95 per cent dependent on supermarkets, years ago Shetland folk had to be more self-reliant when it came to their food. “We got sugar and flour and maybe coffee and tea delivered, but largely Shetland was self-sufficient,” he said. This is the third year Dr Armitage has been taking part in the initiative he has name the Shetland Food Month. And while it is mainly for fun, it also serves as an important reminder of how fragile food security is in the isles - and how the future could look very different if frequent deliveries of cheap supermarket food stopped arriving on the ferries every day. The initiative has also helped him to getting out and about exploring the isles and its coastline as he fishes and forages for food. “One of the things I love doing during Shetland Food Month is going off fishing,” he said. “Partly it's very good for your mental health being out in the wilderness at sea. “But I love catching fish, and I love eating mackerel and herring,” he added. He has also had some help from generous neighbours who grow vegetables in their polycrub. “I've just been around to my neighbour's house, and she gave me these wonderful tomatoes and raspberries and loganberries. So that'll be really nice to eat,” he said. Dr Armitage said the Shetland dairy products were also firm favourites. “It's really interesting to see how, you know, our very small dairy operates here and all the products that come from there,” he added. “I made butter myself this morning from cream to fry my fry-up breakfast in. And that was a really interesting experience too." The Shetland South councillor said he had also learned a lot about the effort that goes into producing food - leading to a much greater admiration for farmers and the work they do. However, the initiative is not without its challenges - not least giving up his daily caffeine fix. And finding a good source of carbohydrates, other than potatoes, can be hard too. To tackle that challenge, Dr Armitage has been taking various grains from his neighbours and is also trying to grow oats in his backyard. “It is a really nice thing to plant because there's quite a nice sort of aesthetic, like grass to look at, and they're just ripening now,” he added. “A lot of farmers recently have started producing grains for barley and oats as a whole grain crop for animal feed, and so there are lots of barley and oats produced in Shetland, but they're all for animal feed.” “One of the great things about the Shetland Food Month is that all the food that goes into my body hasn't touched a corporation,” he said.