Alex Armitage works as the most northerly consultant paediatrician in Lerwick, a busy job normally fuelled by coffee and homebakes. But during (September) he challenged himself to eat only food entirely originating from Shetland.

So his coffee was been replaced by mint tea, and as all wheat flour is imported that meant no bread. Sugar is substituted with honey, but there was no pasta or rice, just tatties.

Alex and his wife, and son moved to Shetland in 2020 from Dalston in London. He was brought up in Islington, but has family connections to Shetland. Before he moved north, he began thinking about the next few decades. He said, “We might be in a world of food shortages and environmental catastrophe and Shetland seemed a bit more safe and secure.”

Perhaps it’s not a surprise to discover he is a Scottish Green councillor for Shetland South.

“We are dependent on supermarkets; it takes a couple of days of no boats in winter before the shelves are empty. It wasn't always like this in Shetland.”
He enjoyed his Shetland-only diet. He fished for his supper, catching Atlantic pollock - known locally as piltocks and mackerel. Another downside was that it was a booze-free month, but he hoped to be able to make mead from island honey.

There is a tradition of growing your own on the island, with polycrubs or poly tunnels which are made to withstand gale force winds. He was delighted to find people growing grapes and lemons, using lemon juice to curdle milk to make a homemade cheese. September is the easiest month to do this challenge in, but he’d try again in March or April next time with more folk joining in.

Locals have embraced the project; the skipper of the Fair Isle ferry gifted him home grown plums, and a farmer who still harvests oats donated a bag of oatmeal.

He is keen to highlight fish quota issues adding, “There are tonnes of cod in the sea around Shetland at the minute and fishermen have to dump it back in the sea which is frustrating for them and from a food waste point of view, it is criminal.”

Alex said, “I noticed myself losing weight, as I’m not eating any sugar and less carbs even though I am eating slightly more saturated fat. It has been a lot of effort but I have been eating well." But it has really exposed him to the true cost of producing our food.

Doing the Shetland only diet was extreme but Alex said, “I would love it, if this caught on nationally or across the world. Obviously I’m going crazy and doing it 100 per cent and being really strict.” He did not eat Shetland salted butter because the salt is imported but he plans to celebrate October with a slice of toast thickly spread with crunchy peanut butter, chocolate, and pizzas and a glass of Lerwick brewery oatmeal stout.