Friday, 22nd January 2010
Scots want to buy food that is home grown
Dear Sir,
In these tough economic times local businesses and farmers need our support. Locally sourced produce is no longer a fashionable phrase, it now relates to the very survival of local shops and businesses.
In addition, the people of Scotland recognise the quality of home-grown produce and want to buy food that is genuinely Scottish.
For too long consumers have been duped by products that have been mislabelled or not labelled at all. For example Scottish Smoked Salmon and Smoked Scottish Salmon can mean entirely different things, with the former being foreign salmon smoked in Scotland and the latter being Scottish salmon potentially smoked and packaged abroad. Consumers are in the dark about which country is really responsible for our produce.
This is misleading and unacceptable. It is about time that producers are given clear guidelines for labelling and I will continue to campaign to have existing legislation changed to reflect the choice and clarity that consumers expect. I want people to know that if it says produced in Scotland on the label, the central ingredient is at least of Scottish origin.
I would ask my constituents to join in the campaign and help protect Scotland’s local farmers and businesses.
Yours faithfully,
Struan Stevenson MEP
