WE live in a strange world, one which our forebears would struggle to recognise or understand.

While greed, power struggles, and the exploitation of populations by factors outwith their immediate control are age-old issues, what is new is the all-encompassing, far-reaching, insidious nature of the modern world – the collusion between multinational corporations and governments which sees much of our resources and the wealth we generate siphoned beyond our immediate communities.

The systems which regulate our daily lives are not designed to make us healthier, empower us, or ensure our natural environment flourishes, but are more akin to a demanding cuckoo, draining us as we scramble ever harder to meet its insatiable appetite while it pollutes the nest it has taken over, destroying its smaller competitors.

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There are very few communities in Scotland now which have self-reliance as standard. Systems which embedded resilience and self-assurance have been replaced by a centralisation so insidious I suspect many of us have little more than a notion of what we have lost – even though we might well have a distinct feeling that something is very far from right – far less a clear pathway towards making things better.

In September 1974, a group of determined individuals produced “The Aberfeldy Manifesto”. The team included a farmer, John McDermott; the local GP, Dr Wattie Yellowlees, and a baker, John Young, whose “Doctor’s Loaf” was on his shop shelves for decades and inspired a new, improved version which is still kneaded by hand and baked daily in the same shop in the town, the Breadalbane Bakery.

The treatise points to the UK economy being in crisis, “surviving only by borrowing colossal sums from abroad”, and says concern at the Westminster Government’s failure “to put forward policies which will ensure first our survival and then our prosperity” has led them to “conceive it is our duty” to develop the manifesto to discuss and achieve food security through local food production in healthy soils, “without polluting our surface waters, and without extravagant use of fossil fuel energy” and to “spread the knowledge of the relationship between soil fertility, food and health”.

Fifty years on, reading this brings a mixture of disbelief and hope. Disbelief that the issues were so well known and raised half a century ago, and hope because, finally, there is a groundswell of people determined to make change happen.

The Scottish Government’s Good Food Nation Act gives us a meaningful opportunity to deliver on a roadmap that is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago.

In 2022, a group of local health professionals decided to re-invigorate the work of their highly respected predecessor and help the people of Aberfeldy to develop a community where people can live well for longer. And so “Aberfeldy: Healthiest Town in Scotland” was set up.

While we need our elected representatives to implement the systemic issues, grassroots action can be powerful drivers for change.

Intrigued, I was happy to accept an invitation to facilitate the “Food for People and Planet” discussion during the Open Gate Festival in Aberfeldy – a weekend where farmers and growers open their doors so folk can find out more about agriculture and food production in the area.

The event was well attended. Panellists were invited from the local area and, as is often the case, I was struck by the wealth of talent and ability we have around us. Martin Kennedy, president of the National Farmers’ Union of Scotland, has a hill farm a few miles from the hall we sat in; Elizabeth Leighton is the secretariat for the Climate Emergency Response Group, a policy think tank with a wealth of knowledge and insight into science, society, and the potential for positive change.

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Alex Brewster farms at Rotmell, near Pitlochry, and speaks about soil with such passion its mysteries unfold like intricate origami; Imogen Karas is a retired public health doctor who simplifies the small steps towards meaningful improvements in our wellbeing, and Iain Lamotte is the young farmer in our midst, working to deliver healthy food from a small market garden nestled in the rich folds of land which undulate between Dunkeld and Aberfeldy.

The evening began with a presentation by pupils from Kenmore Primary School who are learning about where our food comes from. They delivered their lively message with clarity and common sense, setting a high standard for the rest of the debate. Kennedy had high praise for the youngsters and their obvious enthusiasm for wanting to know more about the journey from farm to fork.

He said: “We have such a disconnect now between agriculture, where our food comes from, and the vast majority of our consumers.

“We need our consumers to understand the social and economic background of what we have here in terms of a sustainable Scotland, the importance of high-quality local food production and the nutrition that’s at the back of that, instead of importing from places without the same environmental, animal health and welfare standards, where they don’t necessarily treat the workforce in the same way we do.”

Kennedy told me afterwards: “I think it’s beginning to change, there is a glimmer of hope. You could see what’s been demonstrated by the Kenmore Primary – it was absolutely fantastic – and if we could see that resonating right through the country, particularly in the Central Belt schools, what a difference that could make in time! I am really optimistic about the future, but it all needs to start with education.”

Leighton opened with an observation that only 1% of people follow the government’s healthy eating guidelines. She later told me that a step forward would be the use of public procurement to provide healthy, locally sourced food and drink in our schools, hospitals, prisons and more as part of “community wealth-building”. One of the pillars of the Healthiest Town philosophy is “Eat Real Food”, led by Imogen Karas.

She told me: “As a community, some of us care very deeply about access to fresh and local food. Our biggest challenge is the cost of living. We need to convince people that eating real food can be cheaper as well as healthier.”

The issue of how to make it easier for folk to buy local produce is also something of a challenge. There are now several outlets for local food and drink in and around Aberfeldy, but Brewster pointed out that much of the money spent on groceries still “heads out of town in the Co-op truck”.

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The next day, I take the high road out of Aberfeldy, past the deepening purple of the heather, through glistening remnants of ancient woodland, the kind of countryside which has an old story to tell. I pop into Little Trochry Farm where Iain and Kirstin Lamotte sell vegetables from a converted horse box at the farm gate. They can keep prices down because their overheads are lower with no middle man taking a hefty cut, no shareholders to keep happy.

Iain said: “We’re selling directly, so the margins are slightly better. We can focus on growing varieties of vegetables which are packed with nutrients and flavour rather than the more commercial crops you see in supermarkets.

“I would love to see a farmers’ market in Aberfeldy. Having food as the centre point of the village every weekend would be great, giving people more access to local produce and building connections between the farmer and the community.

“It’s no secret that as a society we’ve advanced so far, but our happiness levels have not increased. Bringing food and farming back into people’s lives offers so many opportunities for people to rebuild their wellbeing. It’s all so linked, and it all comes back to food.”

Fifty years ago, the Aberfeldy Manifesto identified the changes we needed to make. As I take the long road home, I am struck by the potential for change as more people work to demand and deliver a modern manifesto. It is up to us to make it happen.

Ruth Watson is the founder of the Keep Scotland the Brand campaign