Over the three-month discussion period on the first-ever future food policy for Scotland, which ended on April 25:

- More than 25,000 unique visitors logged onto the Scottish Government website food pages;

- Around 500 individual contributions were registered, including over 100 comments on the food blog; and

- Thousands of people attended events across the country to discuss the future food policy.

Mr Lochhead said: "I have been overwhelmed by the response to the food discussion and would like to thank everybody who commented for their valuable contributions.

"The wide array of responses show food is clearly a subject close to many of our hearts and is a clear indication of the food revolution that is taking place the length and breadth of Scotland.

"People have been telling us there is far more to food than what we put on our plate. The food discussion has taken into account all aspects of food production and consumption - from health and education to the economy and tourism.

"The responses to the discussion will be carefully considered to help develop Scotland's first-ever food policy. I will be making an indicative statement in June on the key findings of this discussion and the next steps we will be making as we develop a national food policy for Scotland.

"I know there are many challenges which lie ahead and I look forward to taking our food policy forward that can help support a sustainable food industry within a greener, healthier, wealthier Scotland."

Alongside individual responses, a wide range of industry and organisation contributions were made to the discussion including:

- Community Food and Health

- Federation of Small Businesses

- Major food retailers

- NHS Scotland

- Scottish Consumer Council

- Scotland Food and Drink

- Scottish Food and Drink Federation

- Scottish Grocers Federation

- Seafood Scotland

- Soil Association Scotland

- WWF Scotland

Many of the submissions came from organisations which held their own discussions and events involving thousands of people.

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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