Food and drink

Organisers of the Forth Valley Food Festival want to hear from anyone who is interested in taking part in the event.

The festival launched last year and is back for 2019, showcasing the region's diverse larder. The event will take place from 11 to 20 October and is already shaping up, with a range of activities on offer from wild cocktail making to farm tours.

Sea fisheries and processing businesses are among those to share more than £5.6 million of funding from the eighth round of the European and Maritime Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

The funding awards include £1.3 million for Seafood Scotland to help it maximise key export markets and £1.35 million for J K Thomson in Musselburgh to support the construction of a new processing factory.

Announcing the latest award, Rural Minister Mairi Gougeon said:

If you're interested in the bioeconomy you can find a wealth of information on the European Network for Rural Development's (ENRD) Rural Bioeconomy Portal. ​

Do you know a small or medium-sized business in Scotland that deserves special recognition?

​The Scottish Rural Awards 2020 are now open for entries and nominations in a number of categories including a new category: Best Countryside Digital Innovator. The winner of this category will be crowned for successfully championing digital projects and products across the agricultural, rural and tourism sectors in Scotland. 

​The award categories are:

Scotland Food & Drink Conference and AGM

This year Scotland’s Food & Drink Annual Conference looks at how building strong, consistent brands can help companies thrive, build consumer confidence and help drive sustainable, responsible growth for Scotland’s food and drink industry.

Writer and broadcaster, Nicky Marr, will be the conference host.

Sharing their learnings and brand story are: 

Sally Preston
Founder of Kiddylicious

€​470 million of Horizon 2020 funding is available for research projects on farming, food and the bioeconomy. 

Horizon 2020 is the biggest European Union Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over seven years (2014 to 2020) – in addition to the private investment that this money will attract.

Calls open in October 2019.

Over one hundred school pupils enjoyed a potato education day in Perthshire recently.

The event was organised by ADHB and the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) and was hosted by Bruce Farms in Perthshire as part of their Strategic Farm programme managed by AHDB.

Almost 2000 pupiles have taken part in a project growing and harvesting their own potatoes.

This year, over 60 classes from across Perth and Kinross took part in the Mr Jazzy Potato Project, which shows the children the gradually unfolding story of the spud and how food and farming are linked.

Top of the crops in the 2019 competition and winning the cup was the P2/3 class from Abernethy Primary School who won the ‘Heaviest Crop of Potatoes’.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has launched a food education programme for children and young people at the Royal Highland Show. 

The Good Food Futures programme is backed by £1 million of investment and will teach children and young people about Scotland's food industry.

A new working group has been formed by the Scottish Government to develop the future policy on farming and food production.

Thr group is made up of producers and comsumer and environmental organisations and will consider how we use Scotland's natural assets to produce food and mitigate the impact of climate change. The new group will also look at how best to support such activity is Scotland has to leave the European Union.

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