Community projects

People all over Scotland are getting involved in growing their own produce or sourcing it from the nearby countryside and seashore. They are cooking healthy meals using what’s locally available and so are following in the footsteps of what people have done in Scotland for centuries.

Have a look at the examples here and see what you can learn from the people talking about growing and sourcing produce. Then have a look at the two archive videos showing how people grew and sourced food in the past. What similarities do you see? What changes?

Growing vegetables and cooking healthy meals

It’s very important for me and my family to cook healthy and nutritious meals as much as we can. Not only for the health benefits, but also it allows me to appreciate the ingredients more. I like cooking recipes from different parts of the world, but mostly I enjoy using old Scottish recipes and seeing if I can adapt them more to a modern taste.

I also grow lots of different veg in the garden, though this year is the first time I've dug out a veg plot, which has been very rewarding, if not a little more work than my normal greenhouse. In the beginning I would get stressed out if different veg weren't growing as I thought they should. But over the years I've learnt two main things, don't be afraid to ask for advice and you get what you put in. When you see the results of your work you "catch the veg bug" as they say. But even better for me, is that when you taste what you have grown. Nothing compares to it!

So my advice is don't stress about it! Learn the basics, like how to make a basic tomato sauce for pasta, or how to create a simple soup or stew dish. Once you practice those you'll soon find out that cooking isn't as complicated as it looks!

David Taylor, Clackmannanshire