Gary Maclean, winner of BBC Masterchef: The Professionals 2016, has been appointed as Scotland’s first national chef.
Maclean, who is also a senior chef lecturer at the City of Glasgow College, will promote Scotland’s produce and the use of healthy, sustainable, affordable food.
His role will involve engagement with the public and the food industry, as well as raising awareness of Scotland’s new Good Food Nation Policy (a consultation is currently underway on the proposals in the Good Food Nation Bill).
“I’m sure my passion for education will also help to promote the benefits that Scottish produce can have on a healthy diet and will help to change our relationship with locally sourced and produced food,” Maclean said.
Scotland has a food and drink sector worth £13.5 billion annually. Not so welcome is the country’s obesity problem. The government is currently consulting on new policies, including mandatory calorie labelling and controls on portion sizes in the out of home sector.
