19 February 2009

Very strange. The day that the US president announces the biggest stimulus package the world has ever seen and the UK prime minister calls for global steps to save the world economy, the SIC steps back from helping our own poor crofters.

It sounds, without having the privilege of seeing the papers, that the Shetland Livestock Marketing Group got into trouble because a Faroese customer couldn’t afford to pay their debts for Shetland sheep.

A prime case for public assistance in the current credit crunch climate one would have thought. But apparently not.

One can’t help but be reminded of the treatment the salmon farming industry received from the local authority under similar circumstances.

Just five years ago the Shetland Salmon Group, a consortium of local salmon farmers, wanted help to deal with falling prices. Millions flowed from the public coffers after a brief power point presentation, soon to disappear down the plughole.

SSG was a similar concept to the SLMG. One was a consortium, the other a co-operative, but both were groupings of local producers working together for their collective benefit.

So what’s the difference? Why could SSG turn on the tap for millions, while not even £100,000 is forthcoming for the crofters to combat their crisis?

Perhaps the difference is how wealthy the people asking for the money already are. As they say, money goes to money.

As the government has long realised, crofting is about a lot more than selling lambs. It’s about maintaining the countryside, the very land that we live in. Yesterday’s decision is a nail in the coffin for a tradition that many believe holds a key for our future survival…local production for local consumption. What a shame.