WHAT A great initiative it is by our auctioneers to promote Scotch Lamb in Scotland's schools for St Andrew's Day (see our lead page story). This news will be a great salve to the negativity of the new school meals' directive that was sneaked in under the radar by the Scottish Government at the beginning of the last term which sought to restrict school meals to a much reduced red meat content in the daily offerings.

Read more: Auctioneers launch ‘Lamb Bank’ for Scottish schools

Quite cogently, the Scottish auctioneers' lobbying body, the IAAS, is aiming to build on the success of its 2020 campaign for lamb and looks to have already gained about XXX% more school children and teachers for this campaign, which will take Scotch Lamb into the classroom for Home Economics classes. Sadly, it will not be in the kitchen for all pupils to access, as the meat part of their school meals will now largely consist of chicken.

Where this white meat will be sourced from is unclear, but we would hazard a guess that cheap imported product will be used. The directive on school meals alludes to the fact that it intends to steer children away from 'processed' red meat – just which part of a chicken 'sausage' is unprocessed is, again, unclear. This smacks yet again of an anti-red meat agenda from certain quarters and flies in the face of the need for a healthy, balanced diet for kids – especially those who are experiencing growth spurts and approaching adulthood.

There are key vitamins and trace elements that are only in red meat and this, surely, needs to be taken on board. That makes it all the more important that the IAAS' 'lamb for schools' initiative get support from the industry. There is nothing quite like putting a tasty product, with proven environmental credentials in front of next-gen consumers, many of whom are being led by the nose by some with another agenda.

While this is a toe in the door into schools for lamb – there will be few schools from the public sector that will serve it, or even be allowed to serve it across the counter – there is every reason to suggest that other bona fide Scotch products, like beef, pork, venison and even pheasant, could also be showcased in this way. Plus, we have some great fruit and veg to shout about too and so wouldn't it have been better if the veg crop that is currently either being unharvested, or wasted in store due to a lack of labour to pick it or move it, was made freely available to school children?

Read more: Schools to serve Scotch lamb

You can bet your bottom dollar, though, that the only beneficiaries of the directive to reduce red meat as part of a healthy diet for children will be those burger vans that frequent the school gates, or the chippy just down the road. Rather than encourage children into replacing the school lunch with fast food, would it not be better to serve up a yummy burger, made with Scotch beef/lamb/pork and nought much else? That's not processed food and it's what children really want – and by doing so you can control what's in their diet in a fashion that they can readily understand.

So get behind the St Andrew's Day lamb appeal – it won't be money lost, but cash invested.