Local food pioneer snubbed by Holyrood campaign

Published on Tuesday 15 January 2008 21:26

MINISTERS were criticised last night after they launched a major drive to promote local food supplies throughout Scotland – while refusing to back a businessman who is trying to roll out a programme to do just that.

Jim Mullen, a Fife-based entrepreneur, is setting up a series of distribution hubs, bringing in local produce and delivering it to local consumers online.

He has developed the software allowing the model to be replicated around the country, cutting food miles, giving producers a local market, bringing consumers locally produced food and doing exactly what the Scottish Government wants.

Yesterday Richard Lochhead, the Cabinet secretary for the environment, launched a national policy for food, saying he wanted to "make the most of Scotland's food".

Mr Mullen said this was what his initiative, larderbytes.com, was delivering but he had not managed to secure even a meeting with a minister to see how his scheme could help.

Mr Mullen said he was not looking for money but he did want help and support, particularly as he was doing everything the Scottish Government was looking to achieve.

He is now responding to inquiries from other European governments that are interested in his scheme, because of the lack of a response from his own ministers.

Mr Mullen said: "Ministers should be following up their words.

"Words are easy; it's getting the action out of them, to commit to doing something, that's the problem."

A spokesman for Mr Lochhead said the minister hoped to meet Mr Mullen at some time in the future.