RHASS and Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral come together to celebrate Harvest

The exceptional efforts and hard work of Scotland’s farming community has been recognised in a Harvest Thanksgiving service hosted by Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral and supported by RHASS.

The service took place on Sunday 6th October at the historic cathedral, which celebrates its 900^th anniversary this year, and was conducted by Rev Sigrid Marten, Associate Minister of St Giles’. Alongside celebrating the tireless efforts of Scotland’s farming community, the service also acknowledged the extremely challenging weather conditions Scotland’s farmers have faced ahead of this year’s harvest.

Displays of seasonal vegetables were donated by RHASS Directors for the service from farms across the country to shine a light on the array of local produce grown in Scotland including potatoes, carrots, parsnips, broccoli and pumpkins.

Following the service the produce on display was donated to Edinburgh charities, Empty Kitchens Full Hearts, the Grassmarket Community Project and the Salvation Army Hostel, to allow the produce to be turned into healthy meals for people in need.

People arriving at Sunday’s service were greeted by a John Deere tractor and a Stewart trailer outside of the cathedral, which were kindly provided by Thomas Sherriff of Haddington, to showcase the machinery used by farmers to assist in the harvest of our local produce.

RHASS Chairman, James Logan, said: “Our role at RHASS is to champion Scotland’s rural community all year around. This year farmers have been faced with one of their most challenging harvests to date, after a cool and wet summer, Sunday’s service was a great moment to acknowledge the resilience of those across the industry and to thank our farmers for their continued efforts when faced with such circumstances.  It also allowed us to express how grateful we are for the wonderful fruits and vegetables that are grown on our doorstep.

“We thank our local farmers for donating items which local Edinburgh charities have now benefited from and to everyone who was able to join us for the service. We hope it helped to bring to life the efforts of our farming community who play an essential role in bringing food to our plates every day.”

The Grassmarket Project is one of three projects who received produce from the service. Catherine Jones, Social Enterprise Director at the Grassmarket Project, said, “We are delighted to accept this wonderful donation of fresh produce. We feed over 230 vulnerable adults each week, that’s 230 adults who have very little access to nutritious food. It is very unfortunate that in this country, we are still seeing people suffering food poverty every day, so this donation will help us alleviate it a little for the people that we support.  

“We are very grateful to St Giles’ Cathedral for all the support that they give to us, and we would like to thank RHASS and all of the hardworking farmers who have provided us with all of these fresh vegetables.”

Rev Sigrid Marten, Associate Minister of St Giles’ Cathedral, said: “The gathering in of the harvest is something that is marked and celebrated across many cultures and religious traditions.

“This season is a time for giving thanks to God and reflecting on the stories Jesus told of sowing and harvesting as parables of our spiritual growth and the spreading of God’s word of love.

“We are delighted to have once again worked closely together with the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland to draw the attention of passers-by, highlighting both our Harvest Festival Service, as well as more generally the vital role that Scottish farmers play in providing food.

“Bringing farming equipment to the Royal Mile is one way to remind us of our dependence on those who work hard to produce our food.”

RHET, The Royal Highland Education Trust, also featured a display about harvest across the weekend of celebrations.