Farmers urged to donate to lamb bank

Following the success of last year's project, which saw 1.2 tonnes of lamb delivered into schools, the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland has created a Lamb Bank to give even more school children the opportunity to taste, eat and cook with Scotch Lamb on the patron saint’s day this November 30.

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

More than 175 schools – totalling 24,292 school pupils – have already signed up to benefit from the Lamb Bank for St Andrews Day 2021, a marked increase from the 11,600 recipients in 115 schools in 2020.

Executive director of IAAS, Neil Wilson, said: “There is no better way to market a product than to get it in front of people and this is an amazing opportunity to showcase lamb to the next generation of consumers – especially when many may not often have the chance to enjoy it. It creates conversation around it and gives teachers the springboard to talk about how sheep are reared in Scotland and the importance of lamb to nutrition, livelihoods, the economy and the land.

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

“We have a great story to tell but it’s not always easy to find a platform, and as we see schools reducing meat on their menus and the sustainability credentials of red meat being debated in the classrooms and beyond, IAAS is committed to engaging as many school children as possible with the positive story. Our ambition is to get lamb into at least one school in every town and in every rural school in Scotland. We’re calling on sheep farmers across Scotland to join us by donating to the Lamb Bank so that we can see over 2.5 tonnes of lamb in schools this November.”

Farmers selling sheep via an IAAS mart can donate the funds from the sale of one or more lambs, or other sheep, into the Lamb Bank. This will then be used to supply lamb to Scottish schools during the week of November 30, for Home Economics classes.  As well as marts donating, alongside John Scott Meat, IAAS will organise, pack and deliver the lamb.

With the initial response from schools already reaching 10,000 more school children than last year, and still two months to go, Mr Wilson is inviting the farming community to be part of this ground-breaking initiative.

“If each farmer donated the proceeds of the sale of one lamb between now and November 30, thousands more school children will benefit and we’ll be able to fulfil our ambition. One lamb will give approximately 180 children the chance to cook and taste lamb. If it costs the farmer £100 to yield that lamb, that’s 55p per child,” he said.

The promotion of Scotch lamb for St Andrew’s Day dinner was kickstarted back in 2010 by auctioneers, and has grown with the support of IAAS, NFU Scotland, National Sheep Association and Quality Meat Scotland, and thousands of consumers, businesses and school children.

President of NFUS, Martin Kennedy, said: “This is a fantastic initiative to encourage the next generation to not only taste this high quality, nutritious food, but also to understand, with climate change and the environment being at the top of the agenda, that sheep grazing our hillsides are part of the solution. I would encourage all sheep farmers to be involved and support this initiative to help get our positive message across.” 

QMS will again be providing creative recipes with well-known chefs to inspire home cooking, Home Economics classes and choices in the canteen during the week of November 30. 

NSA Scotland's Jen Craig encouraged members and sheep farmers to get involved, saying that the initiative was an important asset for the future of the industry: “The lamb trade has been strong this year and we need to maintain the interest and demand we saw with the revival of home cooking to secure the future of the industry. This is a golden opportunity to engage the imagination of the next generation of consumers in a creative, fun and tangible way, and encourage positive conversation with their wider group of family and friends.”