In the dreary, snowy days of January, the southwestern border town of Yuma, Arizona, is bathed in sunshine and booked with tourists experiencing a unique vacation. The travelers harvest winter produce straight from the field, then deliver their pickings to culinary students who create a meal of local ingredients and serve it outdoors under the expansive desert sky. This novel form of travel, called agritourism, or farm-to-table travel, is booming, with agri-tours being developed in every state. The growth is due in part to tourists who are hungry for new experiences, along with a growing number of savvy agricultural families who are willing to take the risk and expand the family business to embrace these tourists.
Agritourism is simply where travel meets agriculture; it happens when an operating farm or ranch opens up to the public and offers activities. These might range from you-pick-’em events to dining at the farm, cheese-making classes or even helping care for animals. While some family farms have been holding public events for decades, many more are formally joining in with the help of their local Farm Bureau. Michigan has a website devoted to agritourism, MichiganFarmFun.com, where they highlight activities by region of the state. The Arizona Farm Bureau is releasing their agritourism guide this August. Wisconsin highlights the Dairy Days of Summer to promote dairy farm tours and farm breakfasts all over the state.
When planning your next vacation, even if it is in your own state, here are four reasons to consider adding in an agritour or two:
1. It connects you with your food. Julie Murpree, communication director for the Arizona Farm Bureau, notes that “the visit may mark the first time family members encounter the source of their food, be it a dairy cow in the milking barn, an ear of corn growing in a field or an apple they can pick right off a tree.” Experiencing the process of growing and harvesting food can be an eye-opener to the average city dweller, who doesn’t think twice about how that package of romaine lettuce hearts came to be on the shelf.
2. It connects you with the land. Many agricultural operations have been in business for decades, and some for a century or longer. Visiting these places offers a living history lesson, as well as a deep appreciation for that particular place in the world. The farmers and ranchers who work that land know the subtlety of their area’s weather, the quirks of its soil and the most efficient way to coax a living out of the land they stand on. The stories they can share are sure to offer a deep sense of place.
3. It boosts the agricultural economy. Census data has revealed that the vast majority of farms are owned by families, with only about 4 percent of U.S. farms being classified as “corporate” farms. However, the average age of the typical farm owner is increasing, leading to concerns over the long-term sustainability of the American farm as an institution. Younger generations have been opting out of the family farm, in an effort to make a better living elsewhere. However, a vibrant agritourism business gives another stream of revenue to the family farm, helping to make it sustainable and lucrative. When you take a farm-to-table vacation, you are supporting the local family farm!
4. It gives you an excuse to go off the beaten path. Agritourism gives you a reason to visit rural communities and take the road less traveled. It invites you to step out of the standard busy vacation mode, to slow down and literally taste the (homemade) ice cream. Traveling to your destination will typically require a road trip, through country that you may have never considered checking out before. Go ahead — take the back roads!
To find agritours, a great place to start is with individual state’s Farm Bureau websites.
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Vacation Time? 4 Reasons to Try a Farm-to-Table Trip originally appeared on usnews.com
