Scottish sheep producers are being encouraged to ‘bank a lamb’ to help tell the story of sheep farming as a St Andrew’s Day initiative gets underway.
A Lamb Bank has been created to give schoolchildren the opportunity to taste and cook with Scotch Lamb on the patron saint’s day, taking place on 30 November.
The Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland's (IAAS) project has been a success - over 62,000 schoolchildren have benefitted from over two tonnes of donated lamb.
The marketing campaign was set up in 2010 to boost lamb sales among consumers by making it synonymous with St Andrew’s Day, similar to haggis on Burns' Night.
Red meat levy organisation Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) is working with Scotland’s livestock auctioneers and IAAS to support the Lamb Bank again this year.
Alix Ritchie, from the QMS Health and Education team, said: "Not only does it give many children who may not have eaten lamb before the chance to taste it, but it provides a talking point to discuss lamb production.
"Our role is to support the teachers as much as we can with the resources they need to make it easy to transpose into the classroom, and this is hugely enhanced by the donations of lamb made by the industry.”
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 the 30 November for Home Economics classes.
Gordon Newlands, manager of the Scotch Butchers Club, who is working with butchery retailers to boost sales of lamb, said the goal was to see Scotch Lamb synonymous with St Andrew’s Day.
"Each year, Lamb for St Andrew’s Day has gained greater momentum, and it’s excellent to see so many industry representatives take a leading role in helping market and promote Scotch Lamb.
"For 2022, we want to push this even further and for everyone across the industry to be an ambassador at even the most basic level."
