Edinburgh school pupils to enjoy new lamb lunch option from May

Pupils at schools across the City of Edinburgh Council region will be able to enjoy a new lamb based dish from this month (May 2021), as the Scotch red meat makes a welcome return to school canteens.

Owen McLeod, Catering Manager at Trinity Academy in Edinburgh, first crafted his Spring Scotch Lamb PGI koftas with a rainbow rice pot for the School Cook of the Year Competition in 2019 and the dish proved so popular it has made its way onto school lunch menus across the capital.

The City of Edinburgh Council already uses Scotch Beef PGI in its red meat dishes and the introduction of Scotch Lamb will for many pupils be the first time they experience the quality and taste of this type of red meat, not least from their school cafeterias.

Campbells Prime Meat at The Heatherfield near Linlithgow is the district’s regular supplier and will be providing the Scotch Lamb which is sourced from trusted Scottish farms that adhere to the highest animal welfare and quality production methods.

Cllr Ian Perry, Education Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “We are big believers in education through food and using it as an opportunity for pupils to try new flavours and styles of dishes that take expression from different cultures, so we thank Owen for inspiring our new Scotch Lamb dish for schools. We hope this will be the first of many and we look forward to continuing to provide high quality school meals to pupils throughout Edinburgh.”

Iain Brown, Director at Campbells Prime Meat, said: “We enjoy a fantastic working relationship with the catering teams across the City of Edinburgh Council region and are delighted to be expanding our partnership with them so they can offer Scotch Lamb in schools again. We take huge pride in only sourcing top quality red meat from local Scottish farms so it’s great to work with a schoolboard that values giving their pupils the best produce available.”

Lesley Cameron, Director of Marketing and Communications at Quality Meat Scotland, the industry body that promotes Scotch Beef PGI and Scotch Lamb PGI, added: “It’s vitally important for children and young people to gain exposure to top quality, locally sourced ingredients at every stage of their development. Not only can it teach them the importance of supporting Scotland’s butchers and farmers, the way they are used can educate them about different cultures and tastes, as well as the nutritional value of meat in the diet.

“We are thrilled to see these two partners working hard to show Edinburgh school pupils the quality, provenance and depth of flavour found in Scotch Beef PGI and Scotch Lamb PGI.”

For more information about Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork, visit https://www.scotchkitchen.com/