Students at Lockerbie Academy joined tens of thousands of pupils around Scotland on Tuesday (30 November) when they tucked into tasty Scotch Lamb to celebrate St Andrew’s Day.
Pupils in the Home Economics department at the academy had the opportunity to prepare and cook with local lamb, sourced through the #LambForStAndrewsDay initiative organised by the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland and supported by NFU Scotland, Quality Meat Scotland and other stakeholders. To ensure all pupils were able to enjoy Scotch Lamb on St Andrews Day, a lamb dish was also added to the school canteen menu.
Meeting up with pupils, NFU Scotland’s Regional Vice Chair Hamish Waugh said: “As a sheep farmer, few things could be more enjoyable and worthwhile than seeing the students cooking and enjoying fresh, tasty, locally-produced Scotch Lamb.
“The help and support from Dumfries and Galloway Council; the assistance from Quality Meat Scotland and the work of the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland in organising lamb for the school made this such a great event to be part of.
“But it was the response from the pupils at Lockerbie Academy that made this so enjoyable, and I would welcome the opportunity to visit more schools in the region to share the fantastic story we have to tell on sustainable lamb production in Scotland.”
Jennifer Robertson, Health and Education manager at Quality Meat Scotland, said: “It is fantastic to see Lockerbie Academy celebrate St Andrew’s Day with Scotch Lamb PGI – a fantastic, quality assured product, which is versatile, easy to cook and absolutely delicious.
“In addition to its quality and taste, lamb boasts some impressive sustainability credentials with sheep production playing an important part in sustaining the diverse landscape for which Scotland is famed.
“It’s vitally important for children and young people to gain exposure to top quality, locally sourced ingredients at every stage of their development. Not only can it teach them the importance of supporting Scotland’s butchers and farmers, but the way the ingredients are used can educate them about different cultures and tastes, as well as the nutritional value of meat in the diet.”
Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Education Committee, Jeff Lever said: “I was happy to attend this event and enjoy some of the lovely fresh lamb produced by our pupils and catering staff. We try, wherever possible, to use local produce in our school meals and it was an extremely useful lesson for pupils to learn about local, sustainable farming methods and how these transfer to their plates.”
