EAST Lothian, the ‘Garden of Scotland’ is blooming.
I never fail to appreciate the real privilege of living here. We have unique access to heritage farming land, hills and sea, all with transport links to the UNESCO Heritage city of Edinburgh.
Our food producers are innovative, industrious, often small family enterprises with local heritage. Their forebears would be proud of them.
The enterprising Company Bakery are investing in a flour mill to create a local source of our own flour to stand alongside the exceptional Mungoswells flour already in production.
The excellent Yester Farm producing the three-star Great Taste Award winning cream cheese is an amazing achievement from a hardworking, dedicated family providing us with locally produced milk, yoghurts and cream.
We can buy eggs laid the same day, freshly caught fish, local beef and lamb, rare breed pork from Gosford.
We can source flowers, whisky, beer and gin, all produced within our boundaries; freshly baked bread from Bostock and strudel from Falko.
We can buy fruit and veg harvested within a few hours from Tyninghame Community Farm, Phantassie and East Coast Organics. The new kid on the block, the beautiful Papple Steading are supporting a food and drink festival on September 20 and 21. We’re all in this together.
The sensitive ecological balance that supports this excellence landscape hangs on a fine thread. Changing weather patterns, ever-increasing cost of fuel and labour all impact on these invaluable businesses. Adequate clean water source is an increasing concern. Bee and insect population, essential for pollination, is decreasing.
The admirable East Lothian Food and Drink BID (Business Improvement Development), believes "we have a responsibility to contribute toward looking after the environment as part of a sustainable economic growth, to ensure all people have the opportunity to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life without compromising quality of life for the future".
The elephant in the room? Polluting hyperscale data centres bang in the middle of this historic county which can never contribute to this excellent goal.
