Food and drink have been at the heart of conversations in our area ever since Cupar was granted Royal Burgh status in the 14th century. The ancient trading ‘Liberty’ ensured all produce grown and made within the boundary covering almost the whole of north-east Fife had to be sold in our market town.

Roll the clocks forward several hundred years, and those conversations are renewed and refocused: producers, farmers, hospitality businesses and all those interested in local and regional provenance are being asked how food and drink might help to shape the future of one of Cupar’s best-known buildings.

On Friday 27 November, Growing Our Future – Field to Plate brings key questions into County Hall for a day of conversation about food, farming and community life in north-east Fife. You are invited to be part of it.

The idea connects two places:

• Cupar – The Field: its market-town identity and surrounding producing landscape; and
• St Andrews – The Plate: where food, drink and hospitality are central to the visitor experience

Between field and plate sit people, businesses and choices that affect us all.

Bring your questions to County Hall

The free daytime programme runs from 09:30 to 15:00 in the former County Hall at County Buildings. Arrival and registration begin at 09:30, with the first discussion at 10:00. You do not need to work in the food industry to contribute.

Whether you grow, make, sell or cook food, support people in your community or simply care about the future of the area, your perspective matters.

Four facilitated discussions will open up the conversation, with time for audience questions:

• 10:00–10:45 | Can Cupar showcase Fife’s whisky story? Slàinte!
  • Exploring what a shared whisky visitor proposition could offer and how Cupar might contribute.
• 11:00–11:45 | Food Markets Are History. Discuss.
  • The ancient ‘Liberty’ once dictated that everything made within the given boundary – covering much of north-east Fife – had to be sold through Cupar. The town’s medieval history made Cupar what it is. Could Cupar’s market-town heritage help create viable opportunities for producers, businesses and shoppers today and tomorrow?

• 12:30–13:15 | Brassica or Brassic? Can Farming Sustain Our Future? Can Our Future Sustain Farming?
  • A conversation about farming resilience, routes to market and the landscape on which food production depends.
• 13:30–14:15 | Food for the Future? What’s needed?
  • Considering dignity, choice, fresh food, skills and collaboration in the way communities access food and support.

A final all-panel discussion (14:30 to 15:00) will draw together the main themes and questions for those able to stay – and all will help to feed our Strategic Review.

How your contribution will help?

Our Strategic Review of County Buildings, supported by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Williamson Trust and Fife Council, is exploring how the site could have an economically viable future with lasting community benefits. The team working on the review are engaging with multiple partners and stakeholders across different ‘clusters’ (as shown below) and the evidence gathered is feeding the process.

That includes earlier work on the Cupar ‘Food Station’ proposition which explored markets, training, community support, local produce and whisky heritage.

Field to Plate will help test which ideas merit further investigation – what might work on a community-owned County Buildings site or what could be delivered elsewhere in the town or within Cupar’s rural catchment.

Jim Hair, Chair of Cupar Development Trust, says: “County Buildings has the potential to contribute to Cupar’s future, but we need to understand which opportunities can work in practice. We want people to bring their experience, their questions and their ideas. What we hear will help inform the Strategic Review and the choices that follow.” Jim adds: “We are grateful to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Williamson Trust and Fife Council for supporting the review. Our ambition is a future for County Buildings that can sustain itself and deliver tangible benefits for generations to come.”

From Field to Plate …

The Development Trusts explains more on their ‘Field to Plate’ event saying: “We are bringing together two places with a shared interest in the future of food, drink and hospitality across north-east Fife. Our Trust is leading The Field with daytime discussions in County Hall, while St Andrews Links is working with us to support and deliver The Plate – an evening meal in St Andrews that will showcase local produce and enable further discussion on collaboration. Together, these events connect the people who grow, produce, prepare and serve our food with those who can help shape its future.”

Research already undertaken on the project demonstrates that Cupar and St Andrews “feed each other” – through produce, people, skills, visitors and enterprise.

Martin Hollis, Exec Chef at St Andrews Links says: “Being invited to host the inaugural dinner for this initiative is exciting as it allows us to showcase the quality of local Scottish produce we have in abundance in Fife, including our arable produce, the local coastline and livestock. The quality of the produce from Fife and Scotland is sought after by Chefs nationally and internationally and we are blessed to have this on our doorstep.”

Jim Hair adds: “Neither town exists in isolation, and this collaboration is an opportunity to strengthen those connections for the benefit of both communities and our wider area.Holding ‘The Plate’ in St Andrews gives that ambition a wider table. St Andrews Links is bringing expertise, supplier relationships and partners sponsoring ingredients for the evening’s menu. It will also help promote both the Cupar sessions and the evening event, extending their reach and encouraging more people to take part.”

The conversations begin at The Field.

The Plate provides an opportunity to continue the exploration over a meal that celebrates what our area can produce.

 

Register now …

The daytime event is free, with advance registration required.

Come to listen, ask a question and add your experience to a conversation that could help shape what happens next.

You can book your place at one, more or all of the four sessions using this link or by clicking on the image below. 

Attending the daytime sessions?

All those attending the daytime sessions will receive a follow up email enabling you to book the Plate event with a promotional code that gives you a discount. The regular price for the three course dinner is £40 per head: the discounted price reduces this to £25 per person.

This has been enabled through the kind sponsorship of St Andrews Links and their supplier.

If you wish to book just the evening event – celebrating regional produce and the people who grow, make and cook it – you can do so direct with the Links Trust via this link or by clicking on the image below.

 

Thank you for reading.

Please share with all who might be interested.

 

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