Packed Lunch aficionados up and down the country are being urged to switch their usual sandwich filler or lunchtime staple for a Scottish favourite this week to celebrate Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight.

This year, the Fortnight, which runs from 2nd – 17th September, is urging the great Scottish public to change one thing about their eating and drinking habits to allow them to incorporate elements of Scotland’s rich food and drink larder into their day (#onethingfortnight).

Each day of the Fortnight has an inspirational theme to get the great Scottish public – whether they spend their day in a school, office, factory, restaurant or kitchen – to enjoy a Scottish product or two.

The theme for day five (5th September) is Packed Lunch, and the team behind Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight is urging people to make sure that their packed lunch boxes are overflowing with Scottish food and drink this year!

This year, Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight ties in with VisitScotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology and when it comes to lunch, there are fewer more iconic sandwich fillers than cheese! It was in the late 1690s that a new method of making hard cheese was developed in the warm, wet lowlands of Ayrshire. The method came from Ireland, introduced by Barbara Gilmour who had returned to Dunlop, after fleeing religious persecution. By the end of the 1800s Dunlop had become Scotland’s premier cheese.

If you hail from further north, lunch may be more likely to take the form of Aberdeen Rowies (known as Butteries unless you’re an Aberdonian). The first mention of a ‘butterie’ is of street-seller in Arbroath recorded 1899. But opinion among the Aberdeen bakers is that it was the local fisherman who asked for a ‘rowie’ (roll) with a longer shelf-life for those at sea. The fisherman’s rowie was first made with meat dripping from the butcher.

James Withers, Chief Executive of Scotland Food & Drink said:
“Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate what we have here in Scotland. Producers, chefs and the wider food and drink sector are often too humble about the part they play in showcasing Scotland’s natural larder and so the Fortnight give us the chance to celebrate them and the part they play in our fantastic industry, whilst also demonstrating to the wider public just why Scotland has earned the reputation as a Land of Food and Drink.

“If you eat or make packed lunches on a regular basis have you ever sat down and thought about where the various ingredients within it come from? This year, we are urging you to swap just one item to make your regular packed lunch even more Scottish.

“Just one change can make a huge difference and may encourage lots of other people to take part – so get involved and let us know what you are doing to support the Fortnight.”