CALYX Sustainable Tourism

Patagonia Charges Ahead with Bold Moves

2012-02-17T14:33:00.000-08:00

Our home closets and drawers contain ancient Patagonia clothing and luggage. They have been bundled, dragged, scraped, twisted and lugged across countless airports, cars, camping areas and hallways. The stuff never dies. On the infamous Black Friday following Thanksgiving, when Americans gorge on retail therapy post Romanesque meals, Patagonia unveiled a brilliant campaign: Don't Buy This Jacket.

Patagonia, a privately held company, long at the vanguard of sustainable business practices, was advising its loyal customers not to buy new Patagonia products it didn't need. Through its Common Threads Initiative, the company asks consumers to take a pledge to buy and use less "stuff," but also makes available a new service via eBay where consumers can purchase used Patagonia goods. This act led to expected derision by traditional writers at Forbes and The Economist, but we thought it was brilliant (I am a huge aficionado of consignment myself).

The life cycle impacts of product development, including outdoor clothing, is fairly astounding when you dig deeper. If you peruse Patagonia's Footprint Chronicles you will find transparent information on how and where Patagonia products are made. The outdoor industry writ large is making admirable (beyond admirable) headway in improving its environmental and community impacts. Both the Outdoor Industry Association and its European counterpart have been involved with reducing the impacts of outdoor equipment and clothing through its design initiative the EcoIndex. The trends in transparency and design changes harkens back to Interface Corporation's first corporate sustainability report, resplendent in its shocking (gasp!)Take-Make-Waste mantra.

517 Companies. 60 Industries. California Most Recently. Will Washington State Be Next?

In early 2012, ushering in the new year with zest and promise, Patagonia again got high water marks by standing in line to become California's first B (Benefit) corporation. For all you legal scholars out there you can read this tome about why there needed to be a national movement to create legislation that promotes (and functionally enables) good corporate citizenship. Yves Chouinard, the wiry and peripatetic founder of Patagonia said "I learned at an early age that it's better to invent your own game; then you can always be a winner." Patagonia is a game changer and so is the story of B Corporations.

Here is the skinny from a non-legal perspective: most corporations, by law, have a fiduciary duty to shareholders to maximum their return on investment. That's it. If the company reduces that value through its sustainability and community level initiatives, it becomes vulnerable to shareholder litigation.

To successfully address sustainability issues, corporations must be able to fulfill commitments to communities, employees, other stakeholders and the voiceless "environment" which permits us to live and do business. This cannot occur unless changes are made to state law, in consort with a longer conversation about the role of business in community life.

In an effort to change the system reforms that would enable better corporate citizenship, B Lab, itself a non- profit corporation, started a new certification system to encourage recognition of businesses that wanted to address societal issues in addition to making a profit.

B Corps, unlike traditional businesses:

Meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards;

Meet higher legal accountability standards;

Build business constituency for public policies that support sustainable business.

Washington State is considering adopting B Corp legislation which would help the sustainable tourism industry prime the pump for future action. Support these efforts and continue with your good work. It pays off. Just ask Mr. Chouinard.

Heidi Siegelbaum

Calyx Sustainable Tourism

2012-02-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

For All The Chocolate Lovers OutThere

By Steve Gersman

Have youever been to France? Have you ever had “chocolat chaud” there? For chocolatelovers, it’s the nectar of the gods.It’s not like a bar of chocolate, or those sumptuous desserts with hot, thickchocolate oozing out of them. It’s not like “pot au chocolat” or even a dreamymousse.

Chocolatchaud stands alone.

It’s aliquid, comes in a cup, but is almost too thick to drink. So you get a spoon.But I never use the spoon. For me, tiny sips give the most pleasure, likesavoring the first sip of a superb vintage wine. Made from three differenttypes of solid chocolate, melted, then blended with cream and sugar, this isnot for the faint-hearted. The drink is so rich that I have sometimes, when Iam not feeling totally self-focused, shared a single cup with a friend.

To callthis potion a hot chocolate is to call Versailles a house. If I wax nostalgic,that is only partly true. I always order chocolat chaud when I’m in Paris. Putit down to my love of chocolate and some of the finer pleasures in life.

But it’snot just about Paris. It’s about pleasure. If you haven’t been near Pike PlaceMarket in years, you now have a reason to make an exception. On First Ave, justone storefront down from the SW corner of Stewart, is a French bistro called LePichet. If you live in Seattle or are lucky enough to visit, Le Pichet or itssister restaurant, Cafe Presse make it as only the best in France do. Le Pichet or Cafe Presse

Oh, andif you like French cuisine, they make the best French onion soup too, but onlyin winter. Bon appetite!

2012-02-08T19:43:00.000-08:00

London, One More Time

By Ellen J. Wallach

It is 6pm on a very hot August evening and I’m riding on the Underground. Crowded? No, packed solid! August in London means tourists, heat,humidity and no air conditioning. Forthe most part in public places, A/C has not crossed the pond. But, I have aseat. For five weeks this summer, Ialmost always got a seat. I’m of an agethat mothers tell their children to stand or sit on their laps and give me theirseat. They give the child “the eye,” asmall nod up and a quick look at me. Thekid understands. All children understandtheir mother’s “eye.” I was walkingaround London six or more hours each day. I didn’t need the seat, but I didwant it. I’m not proud. I took it every time.

Five weeks in a free three bedroom flat (apartment) in central London. It was our retirement dream come true. My husband and I had for years talked ofspending two months a year in a different city when we retired. We love traveling, but staying in one placeand really getting to know it was so appealing. When Tom retired, so had the economy. An apartment in London, Paris, Rome, orBarcelona was not in our financial future. Too expensive! As luck would have it, the only person I know who livesin Europe called and made this proposition: his fully furnished Art Deco flat in a fabulous area of London(Marylebone) in exchange for staying with Dolce. Would we like to cat sit for five weeks?Would we!

I’ve been to London many times. The first trip was on my honeymoon in 1965. I’ve seen things change with each visit. This trip would be slow London, giving me timeto look around, watch and listen, pick up conversations with strangers andsnoop down interesting mews (once a row of horse stables, now flats.) (One Sunday morning we found Madonna directinga new movie about Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson.) After 45 years of observation, some thingshave changed, some have stayed the same, some should have changed, but didn’tand some things I just don’t understand.

I changed. And this time I wentwith a different husband.

Forty five years ago the food was lousy, the tea fantastic and thecoffee instant Nescafe. Now London is agourmet paradise. The restaurant and pubfood is fabulous, the many street markets are selling fresh produce from thefarmers, homemade cheeses, savory and fruit pies, and ready to eat preparedfoods. Forty five years ago women over30 all dressed like the queen (frumpy but without a crown) and the men werewearing suits from the same bolt of cloth- dark gray or black wool with a whitestripe. Today, so many women are smartlyand age appropriately dressed. At leastone third of the men are still wearing the same suit.

My first musical theater experience in the stalls (orchestra seats) inLondon featured pre-ordering drinks to be picked up in the bar at intermissionand a heavy Fire Curtain that fell after the first act. When the audience returned for the second act,everyone sang God Save the Queen andthe curtain went up. The drinks and thecurtain are still operational, but no singing.

Some of my keenest observations happen in the loo (bathroom.) Toilets are each in private rooms. No looking under the door as in the US. Back,sides and door are floor (or nearly) to way above your head. What privacy. Toilets used to flush by pulling a chain fromthe ceiling as the water tank was usually on the wall well above your head. Today, the tanks are near the seats, likeours.

Public restrooms in the US often sell a variety of supplies (tampons,contraceptives.) In London I found Chewable Toothbrushes. These were capsules in vending machinescontaining what looked like a white toothbrush without a handle. You chewed this and spit it out. It claims to be a toothbrush and a breathfreshener in one. No toothpaste or water required, just chew.

In England you can purchase all kinds of insurance in the supermarket! The one that caught my eye was WeddingInsurance. It is advertised as “takingcare of things you can’t prepare for, such as the photographer cancelling or aclose relative falling ill.” You can pay for coverage for “presents, flowers,cake, transport and wedding attire.” Itnowhere discusses what happens if one of the betrothed gets cold feet.

London is known for its wonderful public transportation. The streets are packed with all sorts oftransport, but I noticed two additional creative options. On July 30^thLondon, following the lead of other large cities, began a Cycle Hire program. There are bicycle docking stations all overthe city. You pick up the bike at one station,cycle to your destination, and leave it. To use this scheme (service) you pay a charge to activate a key that unlocks all ofthe bikes for a day, a week, or longer. Onceyou are a member, the first 30 minutes of any trip are free. For additional time, there is a fee dependingupon how long you use the bike. You canmake unlimited journeys of under 30 minutes with no usage charge.

From bicycles to Bentleys, Ferraris, Aston Martins and Porches, jointhe Classic Car Club. This private clubhas a selection of “coupes to convertibles, sports to saloons, classic andbrand new.” By joining you receive anallocation of points that can be exchanged for hours behind the wheel of thecar(s) of your dreams. No maintenance,storage or security hassles. The Clubtakes care of everything. It also hosts special events at 3am so members cantake the cars for a spin.

Nice to seethem using the streets during the “off hours.”

And, then there is the language. Tom and I were waiting for a rural bus in theKent county side when a large, red double decker bus passed by. Emblazed on theentire side was: “Hold onto your ballsboys, the wags are back in town. Footballers’ Wives .” What do you make ofthis? I couldn’t figure it out, either. I’vesince learned that Footballers’ Wives, a British TV drama, had been off the airfor a few years. Wags is an acronym for“wives and girlfriends of high profile football players.” Football in Britain means soccer in the US.So, the show is returning! There youhave it.

We are back on the tube and I’m sitting next to a young woman totally wrappedin black, only her face is showing. Sheturns and asks, “Are you from the United States?” I say, “Yes.” She is from Saudi Arabia and isthinking about doing her graduate work in the U.S. She wants to know about “R-Kansas.” I finally figure out that she is askingabout Arkansas. We have an extended discussionof US cities. We had a long way togo. I finally get the nerve to ask aquestion that had been on my mind, “Are you hot under your robes?” And, she replied, “Oh, no, it is much hotterat home in the desert.”

Life is all about perspective. The challenge is to keep an open mind, seeing the familiar as new.

When Cows Meet Clams- New Collaboration in the Snoqualmie Valley

2012-01-10T12:13:00.000-08:00

SNOQUALMIE VALLEY FARMS AND FORESTS

The Snoqualmie Valley is one step closer to ensuring that it remains picturesque for years to come with news of the National Estuary Program /EPA funding to establish an agricultural and forestry production, marketing and tourism training program to help keep working farms and forests in the Snoqualmie Valley from being converted to development.

The grant, "When Cows Meet Clams" includes providing training to expand the number of working farms and forests practicing sustainable approaches while raising awareness about the important role working lands have on quality of life, economic development and why cows (farming) have positive implications for clams (Puget Sound).

"It's easy to lose sight of the connection between farms and forests at higher elevations and the issues we're having at sea level with Puget Sound," said Heidi Siegelbaum, principal at Calyx Sustainable Tourism and one of the project leads, reflecting on the use of whole community and watershed approaches. Calyx’s concept paper on farm and forest tourism was the basis for the grant and builds on a previous Cascade Harvest Coalition and Northwest Natural Resource Group project, Puget Sound Grown, Taking Root in the Northwest. Both organizations are strategic working partners and bring years of relevant work with both farm and forest landowners to the project.

The area is vulnerable due to exploding land values and encroaching suburban development. The area is part of the larger agriculturally and forest-rich King County which is home to 1,790 farms representing 49,285 acres, and 15,600 acres of non-industrial private forest land.

The King Conservation District, the program manager and grant recipient, will receive the funds through the Washington State Department of Ecology and Washington State Department of Commerce.

Green Giving and Living for the Holidays

2011-12-21T13:32:00.000-08:00

The autumn and winter holidays, extending from late October through January, are a time of giving, crafting feasts from the gifts of the land and sea, and sharing gifts and experiences that have meaning or explore human capacity (for instance, ice skating which-- for some-- stretches that capacity). It is also marked by a wild uptick in garbage and food waste. But alas, you need not feel guilty but merely shift your thinking. Some of the ideas below are also good for business as they reduce waste, illustrate the ways your company gives back to the community and lightens the load on the planet and all its critters and planetary citizens.

The Tree: Many of you may not want silver or blue holiday trees but if you take care of an artificial tree, it will last many years as opposed to a live tree. If you want a brainiac life cycle assessment which compares artificial to natural trees to impress people over holiday beverage fiestas, look here. If not, please compost your tree (check your local government for where and how). If you venture to Swanson's nursery in Seattle next winter holiday, you can buy one of their Evergreen trees which you can return part of the Seattle Green Partnership's restoration program. They all entice with Reindeer and Camels. As you decorate, note that great strides have been made in LED color and bulb sizing and they are found virtually everywhere, and can save you considerable money in energy costs.

Experiences (what else for tourism?): There is nothing like a sparkly, ribbon festooned packaged hidden somewhere in your home or business but what lies within can be an experience rather than a physical item. Learn how to: swim, do ballet, kick someone's #$*& with martial arts (if need be), climb a mountain, paint with watercolor or learn a new language. If you want to help rural villagers throughout the world you can purchase a part or whole of an animal through Heifer International. There are ample opportunities to donate to food banks, toy drives, or volunteer with hundreds of different organizations.

Give a Second Life (by Recycling and Composting): Most of the cards, paper, plastic and other byproducts of holiday giving can be recycled or composted. See http://earth911.com for a listing or the Department of Ecology's recycling page or county specific links. Of particular note is electronics which are full of toxic materials and are often illegally shipped overseas and handled by children and older villagers. Lucky for us, Washington is in its third year of E-Cycle Washington. Check out the site to see how to recycle or donate everything from cell phones to computers.

Food A Go-Go: Ok, we all gorge ourselves until silly this time of year but there are still ways businesses can donate food. Food donors are protected from liability if they use due care and this is also an unprecedented time of need in Washington's communities. For consumers, food that cannot be donated can often be commercially composted depending on where you live and you can always do backyard composting with select materials. Businesses can compost commercially or a local farmer may take your goodies. A great tool to find a compost facility is here.

Other Nifty Tid Bits: There are a number of web sites that offer ways to make creative gift wrap, donate used holiday cards or give back by giving certain gifts. Look here and frolic there. Wishing the world a more peaceful, nurturing and loving 2012.

The Menu Project

2011-10-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

The Menu Project

by Ellen J. Wallach

You’ve probably never thought about what happens to oldmenus. They are made to bedisposable. Used, abused, and soiled byunwashed hands and random food splatters, they are unceremoniously thrown out or,more recently, recycled. I’d never thought about them either until two monthsago.

In an effort to purge our possessions for an anticipatedmove, my husband arrived in the kitchen with a pock-marked 1950s whitesuitcase, the kind that weighs 40 lbs. empty. I had seen it in the basementover the years, but never knew where it came from or what was in it. Heinherited it twenty years ago when his neighbor was moving. It contained almost 100 menus from the 1940sthrough the 1970s. The neighbor “liberated” menus from restaurants mostly inthe Northwest where he lived. This was his collection.

Some are plain. Some are beautiful. Some are works of art.All are interesting. They are in all sizes and some are shapes- a clown headfor a children’s menu, a slab of steak for the Old Country Kitchen, and anarrowhead for the Indian Village Restaurant. Each menu is a peek at a culture that existed40 or more years ago. What did we eat?What did we drink? How much did it cost? This is anthropological research I couldn’t recycle. Now what?

Thus, began the menu project- finding homes forover-the-hill cartes. These were notpristine beauties. Where to begin? Google. Most of the restaurants no longerexist. Even extensive restaurant chains have disappeared and so have theprices!

The Camlin Hotel in Seattle (described in their 1947 menu as“Smartness in Hotel Accommodation,” had a restaurant with great views, TheCloud Room. It is no longer a hotel butpart of the Wyndham Vacation Ownership group. The Cloud Room is now a number of upscale penthouses. The most expensive menu item was Filet Mignonfor $3.25. Coffee was $.10.

Inn at the Quay in Spokane, Washington specialized inflaming desserts- Cherries Jubilee and Peach Flambe for $1.75. The housespecialty was Tips & Tails- tenderloin beef tri-tips and imported lobstertails. The price included soup or salad, baked potato, and individual loaf ofbread and coffee. Price? $5.50.

As you might guess, restaurants in the mid 20^thcentury were featuring a lot of meat, all inclusive meals (salads, potato,rolls and coffee,) and coffee meant caffeinated. Sanka was decaf. There are menuitems rarely seen anymore: PineappleWelsh Rarebit, Flaked Chicken a la King, Finnan Haddie, and Hot Mince with Rum Sauce.

The menus are finding their ways to new homes- the amateurhistorian for the city of Palo Alto took three of them; Ivar’s, an institutionin Seattle, is now home to a large menu cutout of The Captain; and the Heathmanand Benson Hotels in Portland have repatriated their menus.

The next time you are out, think about what people in 2070might say about us. Look at the prices we consider high. I bet you’d rather beordering from my menus.

Ellen J. Wallach is an organizational developmentconsultant in Seattle, Washington. She is fascinated by how people inother cultures and times live.

Wooing the Media: Three tips for gaining and sustaining media support

2011-10-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

Wooing the Media: Three tips for gaining and sustaining media support

by Allen Cox

You operate a travel or tourism company with a focus onsustainability. Your operating practices support your vision. Your organizationhelps sustain the environment, communities, local economies and cultures. Youenrich your customers' and affiliates' lives. You're living your dream andhelping others live theirs.

But is your organization's good work the world's best keptsecret?

With sustainability emerging as a fundamental travel andtourism expectation, your message must set you apart and resonatewith your audience. What's one of your biggest allies in making that happen?The media—print, online, broadcast and social.

You can gain and sustain media support by incorporatingthree basic strategies into your operating plan:

1. Craft a compelling message.

You know your organization better than anyone. What's itabout? What's the customer experience? What are the positive outcomes of youroperation? Who does your company benefit, and how?

The answers to these questions and others should becomponents of a well-crafted message. They form your image. They attractcustomers to your business and bring media to your door.

Examine your existing messaging points and get someobjective, third-party input. Test it on a focus group. If the message needsimprovement, revise until it gets to the heart of your story.

2. Educate your staff.

You might have a crack team that knows your product orservice and has the passion to play out your vision. But when it comes tocommunicating with media, is that crack team struck silent?

Help your team with the fundamentals of media relations.Identify your key messengers and host a Media Relations 101 session. Bring inan outside trainer, or if one of your staff is versed on the topic, conduct asession in house. Then, craft and roll out a media relations plan tailored toyour company and budget.

3. Educate the media.

Sustainable travel and tourism organizations are sources ofsome the most positive stories on the planet. Just as your consumers expect todo business with a company that operates sustainably, they also love to read orlisten to stories about sustainable companies—yourcompany.

You have a positive story. Someone in the media willwant to tell it. How to make and sustain that media connection is the key.First, know who your media audience is. Do some research to compile a medialist: comb through mastheads of industry publications for the right editors andwriters, or engage a PR pro that already has a list of your media dream team.Second, invite the media to experience your products or services as your guest(if they can't accept freebies, they'll tell you). Third, master the pressrelease; this can and should be a powerful tool in sparking mediainterest.

For many business owners and organizations, how to get mediaexcited about what you're doing ranks among the world's greatest mysteries.Take it from me—a member of the media—thereare ways of attaining positive page space, air time or megabytes incyberspace. Think of it as a courtship. Make that media first date somethingspecial and shoot for a long-term relationship. Depending on your prowess (orlack of), this might require a matchmaker in the form of a tourism marketingconsultant or a PR pro. Either way, well-executed efforts pay off by making aneffective message ultimately resonate with your target audience.

Allen Cox, freelance writer and editor of HARBORSmagazine, travels and writes with a keen interest in sustainability. You canlearn more about Allen and his work at www.allencox.org.

The Airline Conundrum

2011-10-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

The Airline Conundrum

by Steve Gersman

Aircraft account for less than 1.7% of all greenhouse gases although some claim higher figures (The Stern Report). Zip up to 30,000 feet and the emissions of aircraft are multiplied by a factor of 2.7. It’s a natural phenomenon called radiative forcing.

The Stern Review in the U.K. indicates that power stations account for 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions, shipping, train and road transport account for 12.3% and flying accounts for a mere 1.7%. Worldwide deforestation, on the other hand, accounts for 18% (mostly in Brazil and Indonesia).

So it looks, at first glance, that we would be better off to focus on sources of the problem other than aircraft.

However, that is only part of the story. One thing on which all sides agree is that aviation is booming. There are about 17,700 commercial aircraft in the world. Over the next 20 years, manufacturers expect to deliver 25,600 new planes.

Tom Robbins wrote in “The big green dilemma” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/jul/01/escape.green The Observer July 1, 2007), that those demanding an elimination of air travel assume that “tourism is a frivolous, self-indulgent activity which is as pointless as leaving your TV on standby. Even putting aside the benefits to the tourists themselves, this is clearly not the case. Tourism employs around 231 million people, and generates 8-10 per cent of world GDP.”

How can we as consumers do our part? One of the best ways to travel by air if you are an environmentally conscious consumer is to know which airlines operate the newest fleet of aircraft. The newer the plane, the more efficient an airline is in terms of CO2 emissions and other environmental factors. Here is a list of major American airlines calculated in 2010 and 2011.

Average Age in Years*

AirTran 8.1

Alaska Airlines 8.5

American Airlines 15.1

American Eagle   9.9

Air Canada 11.2

Comair (Delta Connection)   11.4

Air Wisconsin 9.4

Colgan Air   10.8

Continental Airlines   9.9

Delta Airlines 15.3

Frontier Airlines 6.0 

Horizon Air 5.7

Jazz 16.1

JetBlue Airways 6.0

Mesa Airlines   8.7

Pinnacle Airlines 8.0 

PSA (US Airways Express) 7.3

Skywest   8.9

Southwest Airlines 15.3  

United Airlines 13.9

US Airways 12.9

Virgin America**

Source: AirSafe.com (2011)

* The numbers haven’t changed much between 2010 and 2011. It takes time to replace aircraft. Airlines have ordered brand new aircraft but many will take years to deliver and impact the overall age of the fleet.

**Of major significance is the absence of Virgin America in the AirSafe.com list. Virgin America was the number one airline for age of fleet in the Greenopia calculation made less than a year before. Given that it is a new airline, there is good reason to believe that Virgin America would rate extremely high on this list had it been included.

A great example of how airlines have become more efficient is Thomas Cook Scandinavia which has the industry’s highest utilisation of seats and the industry’s lowest fuel consumption and CO2 emissions per passenger 66g per passenger. Thomas Cook Airlines UK and Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia have both received the ISO14001 certification for implementing an environmental management system. Only a handful of airlines worldwide have achieved this and two are part of the Thomas Cook Group. Thomas Cook were pioneers of waste management and in flight recycling.

Source: Responsible Aviation Conference at Manchester Airport

Two steps to FlySmart

1. Fly less – take the train wherever possible; reduce your air miles for leisure and work.

2. Fly more carbon efficiently – make purchasing choices that will encourage airlines to reduce their emissions.

• Fly direct

• Choose a charter flight or economy - your emissions will generally be less.

• Choose the airline with the most modern fleet

• Carry less baggage

• Fly with airlines that fill their planes

Airlines and aircraft manufacturers are making a contribution in their new planes and in other areas such as not running engines until ready to pull back from the gate. Sometimes being environmentally conscious consumer can be a bit inconvenient, but often it doesn’t have to be with some advanced planning.

Agriculinary Tourism

2011-10-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

Awaken your Senses with Agriculinary Tourism

Heidi Siegelbaum (written originally for the PURE Travel Collaborative)

Grazing cows dotted the horizon line like toy pieces, cumulus clouds high in the sky framing red barns and ancient twisted fences lining dirt roads. This was Vermont in the 1980s when I lived there. There were no billboards, no overhead telephone wires and a fierce sense of community that still breaths politically through town hall community meetings where local decisions are made.

Part of this economy is our own promise in Washington State as well- helping farms to stay in business, celebrating and promoting local foods within local food systems, introducing people to new foods they have never eaten, bridging the rural-urban divide and connecting people through one of the most fundamental and life affirming social forms on the planet-- the table.

Agriculinary tourism, the many ways to share, celebrate and support farming and food, has old roots in Europe where farm stays are standard fare. In many ways, the desire to engage with farmers, ranchers, fishers, chefs and food artisans-- whether through kale chips or working on a farm, or through our own gardening, the burgeoning rise of city chickens and goats, food trucks and yummy dripping sandwiches-- reflects a deep seated desire to connect with the land, feel alive, connect with people over food and breathe deeply in a visually rich and sumptuous environment. Many urban dwellers are stressed beyond their capacities, wired to the hilt with technology and living in less than clean air environments.

Agriculinary tourism provides a way to relax, to breathe and to reconnect with things that matter in our lives, including building local economies.

Farms and food as expressed in agriculinary tourism offers direct marketing opportunities for farmers, ranchers and fishers which can spell the difference between failure and ensuing development sprawl, and staying in business, being profitable and keeping cultural traditions and places alive.

Agriculinary tourism also offers a historical reference point that can help reconnect us with what matters- community, relationships, land, the people who grow our food, beauty and a desire to protect what is worth protecting- many of those things are intangible. Washington had total farm sales in 2007 of $6.8 billion but net returns to farmers has been declining since 1997 (WSU School of Economic Science). Small and medium sized farms are rapidly disappearing from our landscape and this is a disaster for families, communities and tourism as we understand it.

But there is reason for hope and celebration-- many reasons. Cook books are the #1 book category in sales; we are awash in the Food Network, a return to canning and gardening, a return to food love and importantly, local food as part of a more regional, locally based economy. Washington State residents and visitors love to buy directly from our farmers and the statistics reflect that: 13.7% of all farms in the state are engaged in direct marketing compared to 6.2% nationally (Office of Farmland Preservation, WA).

The first tangible forms of direct marketing were farm stands, followed by U-Pick operations (WA. Grows a lot of fruit, our second highest food production area after beef), farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSA) subscriptions in which residents buy a “share” up front before the growing season and receive whatever a farm or group of farms grow during that season. At this point, boasts over 100 Farmers Markets and that number grows nearly every few months.

Agriculinary tourism is everywhere if you look for it: value added food products like jams, salsas, breads, butters, sauces, juice, crackers, beer and wine; places you can visit and learn such as 21 Acres, a plethora of wedding sites, wine/spirit/beer tasting and tours, places to stay such as Dog Mountain Farm and Bull Hill Ranch, farm tours, harvest celebrations and kid friendly farm activities such as corn mazes, pumpkin patches and visits with friendly farm animals.

Savor Washington has links to many of these places, people and events, as do WSU extension offices across the state. Some of the regulatory barriers to more fully developed farm stays, cooking schools, community conversation space and a linked trail system that connects farms with value added food, restaurants and the broader tourism context include local zoning laws, labor issues, population growth and land values (which push farmers to sell their land), succession planning, and available water for irrigation.

If you own a restaurant, an inn, a tour company or guide service, you can help grow agriculinary tourism and its real promise by buying from local farmers, ranchers and fishers, supporting farmland preservation efforts and building community by supporting local food systems. Bon Appetite!

Heidi Siegelbaum and Steve Gersman

www.pugetsoundfresh.org/farm-profile (Puget Sound only)

www.agr.wa.gov

www.visitwashingtonfarms.com

http://industry.traveloregon.com/