📘 Part 3: Traditional products

This episode's vocabulary

Plaid (noun) - a pattern of squares and lines on cloth, or cloth with this pattern.

Appeal (noun) - a request to the public for money, information, or help.

The latter - the second of two people, things, or groups previously mentioned.

To quantify (verb) - to measure or judge the size or amount of something.

To preserve (verb) - to keep something as it is, especially in order to prevent it from decaying or being damaged or destroyed.

Cuisine (noun) - a style of cooking.

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Questions and Answers

M: Let's talk about traditional products. What are the traditional products in your country?

R: Well, anything tartan usually. It's important to distinguish that from plaid or check patterns, because those really only have about two colors. And they don't distinguish you as being part of a community whereas tartan definitely does. We also explore Angus beef and Scotch, well, scotch whiskey in America, Scottish whiskey in Europe, although I really can't see the appeal of the latter myself in terms of the whiskey because I just don't like the taste. I think the main ones really are food and drink, though. Our industry is mostly like manufacturing and that's sold within the country. So that's not very traditional, either, since it's modern.

M: Why are traditional products important?

R: I suppose they create a great sense of connection to a particular culture or and place. They mark out a place out as distinctive in some way, and maybe impart some of the feeling behind how people live and feel is a difficult thing to quantify. You either get or you don't, really.

M: Many people think tradition is important for our country. Why?

R: Well, I'm hardly an expert. But if I were to guess it's because of the needs to preserve one's culture and saw their understanding of the world. If you don't have traditions, then there's no connection to the past and to those who have come before. And in addition to that no sense of place in the world that you can use as a basis for moving forward into the future.

M: And what's the value of traditions?

R: Well, I would say they're priceless. I, some will be obviously greater importance than others. But I mean, traditions are made of a big part of people's cultures, like I said, so. And that holds the world together for a lot of people, or at least it holds together their understanding. So if that was to fall apart, then that would be, that would be really bad for them.

M: Why is it important for children to learn about traditional products?

R: I suppose they're expected to carry on at least some of the traditions that make up a culture, well, the culture of a place, or at the very least understand them and where they came from, and why they might be important. For example, if everyone in Italy forgot how to make the cuisine that is made there, it would definitely lose one of its defining features, or the culture of Italy would lose one of its defining features, both to itself and to others.

M: And why do traditional products attract tourists?

R: Probably for much the same reason they attract people that already live in the country. Tourists don't just go to take photographs, they got to experience what it's like to live in a place. And so part of that is taking back some traditional products to share and to use to recall the time that they spent there.

M: And do you think in the future, people will preserve their traditional products and tourists will keep on buying them in the future?

R: I suppose that will depend if they're sustainably sourced or not, I mean, if it's something like water, I mean, Scottish water is sold around the UK, for example, and that's pretty much limitless. But if it was something like an endangered species that has to be sustainably hunted, then you couldn't just keep on exporting that at like ridiculous rates because the thing would go extinct.

M: Why do people like to buy imported products?

R: I suppose it's possible they can be more cheaply manufactured elsewhere. That's why lots of you to buy things from China, for example, because it's cheaper to manufacture things in China and other countries in Eastern Asia. And I think that is the big thing, to be honest. It's to do with the cost. And possibly you can only get them in that particular country. For example, I think you can only get certain products from Japan. And that's all, because they're only made there. They aren't made anywhere else, and they can't be made anywhere else.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your lovely answers in a traditional style!

R: Hopefully, they were productive!

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