Scots win award for sustainable sourcing

The councils - East Ayrshire, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Highlands, Fife, Dundee and Angus as Tayside Contracts covering Perth and Kinross - won one of only three highly commended Government Opportunities Scotland Excellence in Public Procurement Awards, after traceability audits of each region showed that all the red meat served in public facilities was sourced locally.

Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) helped the councils improve their meat sourcing policies. The public sector is of great importance to the Scottish red meat industry, as procurement of butcher meat in Scotland's public sector is estimated to be worth approximately £6 million per annum.

Donald Biggar, Chairman of QMS, said: "This commendation is credit to these councils' work to ensure local residents are fed top quality, locally reared red meat. In turn, this supports local farmers and provides a key market for the industry.

"More Scots are looking locally for their food and drink, and there is no reason that people shouldn't get the high quality, local food from their local authority.

"I'm pleased to say that all 32 of Scotland's local authorities are now putting sustainability at the heart of their supply policies, up from 27 the year before, but there is still much work to be done with other public bodies throughout the country."

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