A new campaign has launched to encourage residents in Scotland's urban areas to 'go rural' and visit a nearby farm or croft.
The campaign will encourage urban residents to get out into the countryside, visit a farm for the day and buy direct from a farmer.
As well as making people aware of what is on their doorstep, the 'Go Rural' initiative aims to help build awareness of the Countryside Code.
It is being delivered by sector body Scottish Agritourism, using the Go Rural consumer facing brand with support from other farming, rural and tourism groups.
The countryside campaign launched on the weekend, with Dundee as the starting city.
Activity from each urban area will include live tours on social media every weekend, and blogs and guides featuring the nearest Go Rural farms.
A series of podcast and videos will capture the stories of different farmers across Scotland and a number of social media influencers and journalists will also visit different locations.
Scottish Agritourism members are being encouraged to host events on farm over the Easter break with many planning spring farm tours to complement another two weeks of the very popular “Lambathon” live on social media in April, which will form part of the overall campaign.
Caroline Millar, sector lead for Scottish Agritourism, said that visiting a farm was 'hugely beneficial' to a person’s mental and physical wellbeing.
"Farmers are not only keen to welcome urban residents to visit the countryside, but to buy food and drink direct and to have the opportunity to be able to have those on-farm discussions about how Scotland’s food is produced.
"Conversations about responsible tourism will be a key focus of the campaign, delivered in a way which will inform and build relationships.”
The Go Rural campaign also has the backing of a number of MPs and MSPs, who say they see the benefits of building relationships between urban and rural areas.
Chris Law, MP for Dundee West, welcomed the initiative, adding that Scotland was "incredibly lucky to have some of the world’s freshest and finest locally produced food".
"Go Rural is an exciting initiative which I hope will give people in our towns and cities the opportunity to learn more about where this food comes from, as well as introduce them to the rural communities who work so hard to produce it.
"I would encourage everyone in our towns and cities to Go Rural and visit their local participating farm or croft.”
Farmers and crofters who don’t have a consumer facing agritourism business can also take part to promote Scottish farming by sharing content and using #GoRural.
