Four American congressmen had never seen anything like it: a school that grows its own veg. But having witnessed the practice at Inveraray Primary in Argyll and Bute, where they grow potatoes, tomatoes and peppers which end up in their school dinners, they are converts, according to Roger Wicker, Republican congressman.
“It seems that the students are being asked not only to eat healthy foods, and a variety of them, but they are also taught at a young age the reasons why,” he said. “I think that’s a concept with a great deal of merit. Also, part of their diet is being produced at the school, which is a step beyond anything I have ever heard about.”
The congressmen who visited the school Mr Wicker, Mike McIntyre, Robert Aderholt and Joe Wilson are members of the US Congress Friends of Scotland caucus. Last week, they paid their first official visit to Scotland since the caucus, which has 40 members, was formed in 2006.
“We want to promote friendship and understanding between two very, very good allies,” said Mr Wicker, who represents Mississippi’s First Congressional District. “This visit is to sample a number of aspects of Scottish culture.”
