A Fertile Ground: Details of the Events

To book your place at the table please contact St Andrews Museum 01334 659380. Please let us know if you have any dietary requirements so we can provide an alternative soup if necessary.

Jan 31^st

The discussion will be initiated by Nicola and John Fletcher and we will be serving duck soup with false moustaches.

Nichola Fletcher is a food writer, food historian and food producer. (She is also a designer and goldsmith but that is another story). One of her specialist interests is meat, particularly game meats. The topics she finds interesting are the cultural aspects of meat-eating, both in the past and now, as well as peoples' perceptions (often erroneous) of what meat-eating involves and the corollary to that: what not eating meat involves. Power, religion, heresy, feasting, joy, denial, survival, climate - all these and more are involved.

John Fletcher is a qualified vet who did a PhD from Cambridge many years ago on the deer on the Isle of Rum. They won his heart and made him realise how easily they can be farmed. In 1973 he started a deer farming enterprise in Auchtermuchty with Nichola Fletcher. From the beginning the idea was to produce venison in a way comparable to the many medieval deer parks. John has written a book about their system of producing the meat and the thinking behind it and also pointing out the theory widely accepted by scientists that because humans have been eating game meat for up to 50,000 years this is the meat which they are best equipped to metabolise. John looks forward to discussing a meat that he describes as exquisite and 'ticks all the environmental boxes'.

http://seriouslygoodvenison.co.uk/

Feb 7^th

The discussion will be initiated by Eva Schonveld and we will be serving a roasted garlic and potato soup

Eva Schonveld runs Transition Scotland Support, which aims to support people who want to use the Transition model to re-localise their communities. This means communities taking back responsibility for feeding themselves and producing their own energy as well as many of the other things we need to sustain ourselves and thrive. This can lead to more local employment, better health, and more fulfilling social relations, as well as being a way to tackle the problems of climate change and the ever rising price of oil.

Eva co-organised the first National Local Food Gathering in Dunbar in October 2009, and has been helped set up 'Nourish' the new Scottish local food organisation. She enjoys cooking and specially eating food, and is keen to learn more about growing her own. She has newly moved to Fife with her husband and 3 boys.

www.transitionscotland.org

Feb 21^st

The discussion will be initiated by Mike Small and we will be serving an oatmeal soup.

Mike runs the Fife Diet Project, a mass-member food network of people accessing sustainable local food. The project brings people together who want to know where their food comes from and how it was produced, believing that together we can create alternatives to the globalised food system that will be part of our low carbon future. The project aims to help each other re-learn how to eat seasonally and challenge the insanity of food miles. Mike will be talking about recovering our national and local food culture as an antidote to globalisation.

www.fifediet.co.uk

Feb 28^th

The discussion will be initiated by Jane Stewart and we will be serving Celery, Apple and 'Anster' Cheese soup

Jane is a local producer and produces ‘Anster’ cheese. The cheese is hand-made on the farm – to a traditional recipe – by Jane, using unpasteurised milk from her husband Robert’s herd of home-bred Holstein Friesian cows. The Stewart family are the only farmers in Fife making cheese, and are now in their third year of production. They also have a coffee shop on the farm, and are a 4 star Visitor Attraction with Visit Scotland - so people can come along to see the cheese being made, and then enjoy luch or coffee and home-baking in this unique venue.

Jane will talk about how she learned to make cheese, and how this new venture complements their existing farming business. She will also talk about challenges she has faced along the way so far, and what plans are for the future. Jane hopes that people will ask questions, and she will be interested to listen to opinions, and talk about local food in general, and its availability in Fife in particular.