Dr. Alex Armitage has embarked on a dietary experiment, committing to eat exclusively food grown, reared, or caught in the Shetland Islands for the entire month of September. This endeavor, which Dr. Armitage describes as a challenge to explore the stories behind Shetland's food, stands in contrast to more widely recognized diets like the Mediterranean diet.
His daily meals feature a variety of local ingredients. For breakfast, he often prepares a substantial meal including eggs, fish, and vegetables cooked in Shetland butter. He has recently incorporated a significant shipment of herring, a traditional Shetland fish, into his diet. "Shetland tatties are very plentiful and very available. Shetland tatties are my favourite source of carbohydrate without a shadow of a doubt," Armitage stated, highlighting the local potatoes as his primary carbohydrate source.
Most of the food for his experiment has been donated, though he purchases staples like Shetland milk and cream from local shops. His foraging efforts have yielded mushrooms from Burra and blackberries from lanes in Lerwick. He also engages in fishing using a kayak to supplement his diet.
Armitage's commitment during "Shetland Food Month" involves a deep dive into the provenance and availability of food within the archipelago. He noted that finding alternative carbohydrate sources beyond the abundant local potatoes has proven to be a significant challenge during his month-long dietary restriction.