MORE than 9,800 pupils have been cooking and eating lamb donated by Scotland’s livestock auction markets as part of the “Make It Lamb for St Andrew’s Day” campaign.
Organisers want Scots to associate lamb with St Andrew’s Day in the same way that we mark Burns’ Night with haggis.
More than 1.25 tonnes of lamb was donated by livestock markets, with the meat being distributed to 114 primary and secondary schools throughout the nation.
Children learned to make lamb curries, pizzas, and other dishes in their home economics classes.
Isla Porteous, a home economics teacher at Dumfries Academy, said: “Budgetary constraints mean that lamb is not generally on the school menu or in the home economics kitchens, so being able to offer our pupils the chance to experiment with and taste a different meat is brilliant and makes such a difference to us.
“At the core of what we do is inspiring young people to try new foods and be conscious of healthy eating choices.
“Cooking with lamb is a perfect opportunity to talk about the farm to food story, nutrition and to encourage them to be adventurous with new tastes and dishes.”
Last year, around 1,500 pupils took part in organised events to try lamb on St Andrew’s Day.
Alix Ritchie, education manager at promotional body Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), said: “The marts and farmers have been incredibly generous.
“Donating lamb like this allows us, as an industry, to reach a huge number of young people and to inspire and educate them about the role of red meat as part of a healthy balanced diet.
“They can find out first-hand that it is nutritious, full of flavour and can be super quick to cook, whether it’s pizza, a curry or steaks.”
Neil Wilson, executive director at Institute Of Auctioneers & Appraisers In Scotland (IAAS), added: “We have had an exceptional response from schools from Shetland to Castle Douglas, Arran to Aberdeen.
“This is a great opportunity for us to promote our customers’ lamb and also show that our auction marts really want to make a difference to consumer attitudes to lamb and to support the schools in our local areas.
“The more we can encourage the consumers of tomorrow, as well as of today, to enjoy cooking and eating lamb, the more we benefit the whole industry from farmer to retailer.”
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