Scottish Crofting Foundation (SCF) is pleased to offer the following contribution to the discussion on the National Food Policy for Scotland. SCF is the only representative and campaigning organisation for crofters and crofting in Scotland. We congratulate the Scottish Government on this policy initiative which has far reaching importance for our members.
Food production in Scotland must concentrate on quality, local provision, provenance and environment. Maintaining food production, especially livestock, in upland, peripheral and island areas is of inestimable social, economic and environmental importance. Small scale agriculture, such as crofting, has been successful in maintaining populations in some of Scotland’s most remote areas. By contrast, industrial scale agriculture driven by a commercial UK food policy, whether in the Straths of Sutherland or the arable prairies of the East of England, has cleared rural populations leaving a degraded environment and a countryside that is the preserve of the very rich.