CONSERVATION

members the chance to meet local farmers and see the local
varieties growing in the fields or at various stages of harvest.
A visit to local artisan markets and factories can give people
real insight into the practices involved in turning the food
from the farm into value-added products. And tasting local
dishes prepared by chefs who incorporate these flavors into
their recipes can provide a holistic experience of farm to plate.
Heritage food tours can foster a lasting connection
within a community among its producers, millers,
brewers, butchers, bakers, and other artisans. Forging such
relationships at an appropriate scale can easily make a
difference as these foodways begin to recover in a region,
for they spread the stories of the uniqueness of such
heritage foods and promote their market recovery. Many of
these crop varieties and livestock breeds are not yet suitable
for large scale production, so small producers need to find
viable niche markets for their value-added products without
having the initial capacity to invest in costly advertising
or distribution networks. By bringing people to the farm
instead of bringing the farm to the people, such a grassroots
process of relationship-building can, and hopefully it will
“go viral.” Heritage food tourism gives people the tangible
opportunity to viscerally link their regional sense of taste
with a unique sense of taste, so that specific heritage foods
can again find their places in the fields and on the table.
Across the United States, groups interested in
promoting their region’s unique flavors and heritage food
trails are promoting and experimenting with various forms
of heritage tourism. Guides such as Home Grown Indiana:
A Food Lover’s Guide to Good Eating in the Hoosier State;
Food Lovers’ Guide to Colorado; and Homegrown and
Handmade: Art Roads and Farm Trails in North Carolina
showcase the farms, restaurants, flavors and crafts that
keep these unique regional culinary traditions alive.
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