Harmonisation 1.2 - Culinary Tourism

When I have travelled, I have always found great enjoyment in trying the local food and drink. Bananas in India tasted far better when I picked them off the tree myself, than those in the supermarket! This may be an exciting prospect for the future when taking local food systems into account; what if you couldn’t get bananas at the supermarket? They would taste even better when you visited the source! 

Cheese and cider both provide British heritage with different brands and  varieties
coming from all over the U.K. Taken From: http://www.dkpw.co.uk

Here in the U.K., labels of origin are seen on almost every product these days and yet hardly ever does this make any difference as to whether someone buys the product or not – at least under my observations this is the case. The fact that the food in our supermarkets comes from all over the world is a sad one – it is the cause of much homogenisation of culinary heritage and culture. Not all is lost though. We still find British heritage in many products, particularly beers, cheeses and ciders. Other countries such as France preserve their heritage very well. Terroirs are areas with a particular microclimate or soil type which provide products with unique qualities, which are labelled on French products (Feagan, 2007). Because terroirs can become recognisable by their foodstuffs, this tends to have a positive environmental effect on areas because green and organic labels will provide greater equity, therefore making it in the producers’ interest to make them so (Feagan, 2007).

Rebecca Sims (2008) writes about how local food systems (LFSs) may provide opportunities for tourism. As I mentioned in my last post, LFSs reduce environmental impacts by shortening the food chain, while also increasing food quality and community integration. Fixing traditional products to places of origin can increase rural tourism and local economy. Sims (2008) finds examples of this in the Peak District and Exmoor, both of which have thriving tourism industries. Products such as Cumberland Sausage, Kendal Mint Cake and Grasmere Gingerbread are all authentic to the Peak District providing an extra dimension to a holiday there. You can’t go to the Peak District and not have some sausage (unless you are vegetarian like me!). Similarly to Feagan(2007), Sims (2008) finds that local food marketing provides economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Wine-tasting holidays are already popular (particularly with the oldies), so
why can't food tasting be just as popular? Taken from:
http://www.ventanawines.com

 

Of course there are negatives to increased tourism, such as the amount of carbon emissions produced from the travellers – but sustainable tourism is a topic for another post. Culinary tourism however does not require you to travel half way across the world as exciting, authentic cuisine can be found in the next ‘Terroir’! Also you aren’t travelling to Spain to eat British food, which is another plus.