When
it comes to fresh food, Unst is literally right at the
end of the road. Food is transported to Britain, then
Aberdeen, then on the ferry from Aberdeen to Lerwick and
then on a two hour road trip and two more ferries to get
to the shops. No-one really knows when their food was
harvested, or indeed how it was grown.
From an initiative launched by Sarah
McBurnie (of See Shetland
Tours - see 'Links'), a few like-minded
people got together with the specific aim of growing as
wide a range as possible of chemical-free fruit, herbs,
salad and vegetable produce.
This loose co-operative has evolved
to become the URGE, as we had the 'urge' to do something
about our ability to eat fresh food with a known provenance
and to incorporate as much recyclable material into the
enterprise as possible, thereby keeping our costs and
carbon footprint to a minimum.
Initially,
we expected to grow a bit more than enough food for our
own tables, with any surplus being sold at the local Farmers'
Market. An early start was made growing basic varieties
... |
