First Minister Alex Salmond got a resounding 'more please' when he had bowls of porridge served up to his Cabinet at Bute House earlier this week.
Date:
Thu, 06 Oct 2011
Source:
Scottish Government
Scottish Government:
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The Cabinet Ministers tucked into Scotland's other national dish prepared by current World Porridge Making Champion, Neal Robertson from Auchtermuchty, to mark World Porridge Day.
The First Minister,Alex Salmond, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Mike Russell and Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs Fiona Hyslop were enjoying breakfast to mark World Porridge Day which is taking place on Monday, October 10 and is expected to raise thousands of pounds for the Mary's Meals charity to feed hungry children around the world.
The charity has teamed up with the Highland village of Carrbridge - home to the World Porridge Making Championships which takes place on Sunday, October 9.
The First Minister said: "There's no better way to start a busy day than with a bowl of porridge; which makes this breakfast today all the more fitting for busy Cabinet Ministers.
"Traditionally, a batch of porridge would be made at the beginning of the week and kept cold in a drawer so that members of the family could slice off chunks as they were needed - which would have made serving all eight Cabinet Secretaries, one Lord Advocate and a Permanent Secretary much easier.
"However, we've been lucky today in having ours made fresh by the world's champion porridge maker!
"Around the world, millions of children go to bed hungry and wake up hungry. This Monday, Scots should get out their porridge pots and spurtles and cook up imaginative ways to raise money to help mark World Porridge Day and support Mary's Meals to help feed needy children in some of the world's poorest countries."
Abeer Macintyre, head of supporter care at Mary's Meals, said: "We'd like to thank the First Minister for wholeheartedly supporting World Porridge Day.
"Although he and the Scottish Cabinet will enjoy the best porridge breakfast the current world champion can produce, we urge everyone to eat porridge or mark the event in someway as a show of solidarity with children for whom a cup of porridge is the only meal of the day."
In Malawi, for just £6.15, Mary's Meals is able to provide a daily mug of porridge to a child for a whole school year. By providing a daily meal in a place of education, chronically poor children are attracted to the classroom where they can gain a basic education that provides an escape route from poverty.
Shona Rankin, organiser of the 2011 Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championships, said: "The draw of the perfect bowl of porridge, called the 'Chief of Scotia's food' by Robert Burns, has attracted competitors from the USA, Sweden, Ireland England and Scotland to the 18th World Porridge Making Championships.
"The village throws open its doors to welcome competitors and spectators as 15 competitors battle it out to carry off the coveted Golden Spurtle Trophy."
Mary's Meals is currently providing life-saving food to famine-hit east Africa, and recently launched an emergency relief response in Somalia. It works in 16 of the poorest countries in the world, providing daily school meals for over 557,000 of the neediest children.
The first World Porridge Day took place in October 2009 at the suggestion of the organisers of the World Porridge Making Championships, an international competition in Carrbridge.
They wanted to support Mary's Meals because of the role that a maize-based porridge (called likuni phala) plays in Malawi, where children receive a nutritious mug every day at Mary's Meals school projects.
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