by Vincenzo Velletri
In the past years we have seen a reduction in the number of farms in our peri-urban agricultural area due to the globalization of the food market and a change in the distribution chain that have negatively affected the financial viability of those farmers.
Our current food system is focused on extensive monoculture and large-scale production, which doesn’t sustain food biodiversity and food security. This system makes it difficult for small producers to survive and has contributed to the aging of our farming population with a very limited number of the young generation willing to take over.
As we saw during the pandemic, peri-urban small farmers are very important to preserve our food security and biodiversity therefore, we need to find a way to give them the opportunity to regain their financial sustainability and give them the opportunity to maintain the link with their land and culture.
- The integration of agriculture with tourism has been very popular and successful in other countries around the world, such as Italy, France, England, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, USA etc., and it has provided means to diversify farms, connect visitors with authentic local producers and preserve culture and food traditions. Slow Food has been offering this model of tourism under the branding SFT (Slow Food Travel) which bring travellers closer to the preservation of food biodiversity and an understanding of local cultures, identities and gastronomies and emphasizes the connection to local people, culture food and music https://www.slowfood.com/what-we-do/themes/slow-food-travel/
Sustainable agriculture and food craft must be at the core of an Agritourism offer and connected with tourism services and products around that such as cooking, gastronomy festivals, true farmers markets, accommodation, nature and environment, trekking etc. in order to bring high impact to the local economy and create more business opportunities and jobs in rural areas.
It is important to create a unique destination connected with culture, and work with products that are endemic to this specific destination in order to create a unique experience for the visitors, transmitting passion, family and community traditions.
In order to develop an Agritourism industry we need to have a local agritourism strategy with the involvement of local farmers, chefs and cooks that are interested in defending food biodiversity and food culture, and Local and State Governments. This strategy should focus on a collaboration and engagement across all levels of Government, Tourism, Agriculture and Traditional Owners to identify the most important priorities. Red tape, planning permits, food safety regulations, licenses and permits for tourism businesses, including small eateries, onsite butchering or food processing specific to artisan food, are part of the priorities. A comprehensive, well studied strategy will have to streamline all the requirements for an Agritourism operation and be shared across all Councils and Government institutions so that everyone is on the same page and that will bring security to people that want to invest in this specific sector.