Ahead of speaking at NFU Scotland’s Autumn Conference on Thursday 28 November, well-known industry figure Dr Jude Capper, ABP Chair in Sustainable Beef and Sheep Production at Harper Adams University urges positivity in the promotion of Scottish food and drink and that the true colour of Scotland’s farmers and crofters is green.  Dr Capper writes:

The saying “may you live in interesting times” is often cited to be a traditional Chinese curse. Whilst this claim is dubious at best, there is no doubt that that the past 18 months have been some of the most “interesting” that we could ever have expected, thanks to COVID-19. Although devastating from a health, economic and social perspective, one of the few advantages of the pandemic is that it highlighted the benefits of local food and farming.

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1 Data from YouGov survey carried out in 2020. Question asked: “Which, if any, of the following do you think has changed since the Coronavirus outbreak began in the UK?” https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/otidumbhkq/YouGov%20Survey%20Results%20-%20Food%20Foundation.pdf

2 Veganuary. 2021. Veganuary 2021: The official survey results are in! https://veganuary.com/veganuary-2021-survey-results/

3 Data from YouGov survey carried out in 2019. Question asked: “Which, if any, of the following factors might encourage you to adopt a vegan/vegetarian diet?” https://yougov.co.uk/topics/resources/articles-reports/2019/03/18/future-food-flexitarian

4 Ivanova, D., Barrett, J., Wiedenhofer, D., Macura, B., Callaghan, M. and Creutzig, F. 2020. Quantifying the potential for climate change mitigation of consumption options. Environmental Research Letters. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab8589

5 Calculations based on GHG emissions flight data from: https://co2.myclimate.org/en/flight_calculators/new;  
A carbon footprint per litre of milk of 1.18 kg CO2-eq from: https://projectblue.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/Research%20Papers/Dairy/411045_carbon_footprint_report_year_3_final.pdf
A carbon footprint per kg of boneless beef of 35.5 kg CO2-eq: https://projectblue.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/Research%20Papers/roadmap_3_-_down_to_earth_180112-final-report.pdf