Auction marts across Scotland are donating lambs to celebrate St Andrew’s Day on 30 November as part of a marketing drive to encourage the country to make lamb a staple of the St Andrew’s day meal in the hope it will become a part of the tradition.
The campaign, ‘Lamb for St Andrews Day’, is a joint effort between members of The Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland (IAAS); the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS); Quality Meat Scotland (QMS); and the National Sheep Association Scotland (NSAS).
IAAS members will be contacting 30,000 farming customers across Scotland to help spread the word, and each mart will be running a social media campaign. The other organisations involved will also be reaching out to communities and businesses to help put lamb on the menu for St Andrew’s Day 2020.
QMS has also developed a range of recipes with celebrity chef which will be shared over social media and around auction marts which will be available on the IAAS website.
The campaign is encouraging farmers, businesses or organisations who would like to get involved to contact their local livestock market
“St Andrew’s Day is a great Scottish day but is often under-celebrated,” said Christopher Sharp, group director at United Auctions, which is leading the marts in the campaign. “We want to change that and make it into an occasion to celebrate with a great Scottish meat.
“There’s not been much to celebrate the last few months, and so this is our way of coming together in our communities and giving people a chance to celebrate something, within the allowed restrictions.
“Auction marts have played a vital role in the food chain, ensuring the nation has been fed during the pandemic and we want to continue that by saying thank you to the food chain and everyone in it.”
