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Forget the Mediterranean diet, I'm eating only food from Shetland for a month - Published Could you survive a month eating only food produced in your local area? It would be difficult enough to do in a city, town or village on the mainland. Dr Alex Armitage is doing it in Shetland. As part of Shetland Food Month, the consultant paediatrician has set himself the challenge of surviving on just local produce for the month of September. He's already been out in his kayak to catch fish, he's been foraging for mushrooms and berries, and he's enjoyed vegetables from his neighbour's croft. Armitage, who is also a councillor with the Scottish Greens, said he grew up in London where he heard stories of his granny's childhood in Shetland. He was fascinated by how people could survive on the archipelago, more than 100 miles north of the Scottish mainland. Now the population relies on the regular deliveries of food transported by Northlink ferry from Aberdeen But Armitage is concerned that increasingly stormy seas could leave the islands cut off for extended periods - and the supermarket shelves empty. "If we had a week the ferry doesn't come to Shetland and Tesco runs out of food, what would happen if that happened for longer and we really had to survive by ourselves here," he said. "It got me thinking could people actually survive on Shetland produce? I thought I would live out that thought experiment." The father-of-one said he liked to start the day with a big breakfast - egg, fish and vegetables "fired up" in Shetland butter. "This morning I made Eggs Florentine with some eggs people have donated," he added. "I've also got a big shipment of herring which is a wonderful and a very traditional Shetland fish to fry." Most of the produce has been donated to him, but he buys Shetland milk and cream from a local shop. He added: "I like to use the opportunity of the Shetland Food Month to look deeper behind some of the stories about our food in Shetland. "I've been out foraging. I've got mushrooms from Burra. I've just picked up blackberries from one of the lanes in Lerwick and I've been out fishing as well - I have a kayak. "Shetland tatties are very plentiful and very available. Shetland tatties are my favourite source of carbohydrate without a shadow of a doubt. Getting other sources of carbohydrates is extremely difficult." But of course there are some items that just can't be produced in the cool Shetland climate. Asked what he is missing the most during his month-long challenge, he said: "It's got to be caffeine." "Fortunately I've got over the caffeine withdrawals," he said. "They were really hard, about three days. It's not pleasant, you just have a constant headache all the time." This is the third year that Armitage has challenged himself to eat just Shetland produce for a month. He said it was a fun activity but it was also an important reminder of the fragility of food security in the islands.
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