Promoting venison event

The aroma of roast venison will be wafting along the corridors of power.

Cairngorms National Park Authority is taking part in a special event at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh to promote the benefits of this delicious, natural meat.

Members of the Scottish Venison Working group are lobbying to get more venison on the menu in schools and hospitals and boost its profile in healthy eating and environmental campaigns.

MSPs will be entertained by butchery and cookery demonstrations, discovering venison is lower in fat than skinned breast chicken, higher in iron than any other red meat, low in cholesterol and free of antibiotics and growth promoters.

The Cairngorms National Park Authority is a member of the Scottish Venison Working Group, a grouping of private and public sector organisations which have joined forces to promote venison.

Other members are the Association of Deer Management Groups, the British Deer farmers Association, the Deer Commission for Scotland, Forestry Commission Scotland, Scottish Gamekeepers Association and Scottish Quality Wild Venison.

The group is also campaigning for venison producers to be made a higher priority for support through the Scottish Rural Development Programme and for help to forge and improve links between local venison producers and retailers.