Buy seasonal

Healthy biodiversity is vital for growing the food we eat.

We all need food for keeping us going. Growing this food requires insects (such as bees for the fertilisation of crops), clean water, fresh air, healthy soil - these all make up our biodiversity. This biodiversity has to be kept healthy for it to support food production in the future.

Scotland produces an amazing range of foods - soft fruits, vegetables, cereals, meat, fish, mushrooms and many more. Food production makes a big contribution to Scotland's economy and is currently worth £7.3 billion each year. Many farmers are working to improve biodiversity on their land and this is supported through funding from the Scottish Government (through Scotland's Rural Development Programme).

What you can do to help

We can all help by doing things like:

• buying local food (this supports Scottish farmers and helps to reduce our carbon footprint);
• buying food when it's in season (this is much better for biodiversity);
• growing some of our own food (such as vegetables in your own garden or allotment);
• reducing the use of pesticides in our gardens;
• encouraging and supporting wildlife in our gardens (doing this helps to support biodiversity on neighbouring land).