Farm Food and Beverage: An Attractive Element of Gastronomy in Agritourism

Overview

Agritourism is a feasible option for the socioeconomic development of the rural areas. The intersection of the tourism and agriculture sectors will benefit both sectors. It is the practice of attracting tourists to where agriculture operations are carried out. The primary motive behind agritourism is to entice visitors to the farm tourist destination. Therefore, compiling working farm environment practices with a commercial tourism component will result in agritourism operations(Pal, 2016). Farmers will benefit from favorable circumstances by performing agritourism activities, especially in the form of monetary gains. The agritourism activities can be categorized into three different types based on the basic principles of tourism. The first one is that of “visits”, the second one is “experience and participation”, and the third one is “purchase”. The fundamental element of the principle “visits” describes visiting the agricultural museums, local dance events etc. The second element, experience and participation, includes different types such as farm educational experience, involvement in countryside dining, experiencing local food etc. The third element is the purchase, which provides farm products and handicrafts (Cheteni & Umejesi, 2023). Recently, a startup venture in India known as “Neercare Agro” by Vivek Khurana and Neeraj Srivastav was launched to rejuvenate the agritourism sector from India to global (The Economic Times, 2023).

Gastronomy is conceivably a vital element for sustainable development and has become a constitutional element in the choice of a tourist destination. India's Government has drafted a “National Food Processing Policy” for the comprehensive development of the food processing sector. The main aim behind this policy is to promote economic benefits for farmers and deliver substantial advantages to the economy and agricultural productivity, creating employment opportunities and increasing the overall standard of living of the people in the country (Government of India, 2017). Gastronomy can be served as a way of fostering good social relationships amidst local communities. Tourist’s will get memorable experiences by exploring food from agritourist destinations. They can acquire new knowledge of provincial gastronomic culture (Fanelli, 2020). The World Tourism Association (WTO) argues that gastronomic tourism has not been promoted. A visitor typically gives importance to gastronomy after the cultural interest and nature. It became a third place among the motives of tourist destination attractions and circumscribed in the context of cultural tourism. Hence, gastronomy encompasses the aspect of cultural tourism that recognises the lifestyle and customs of the local community being explored through culinary representation. This approach facilitates immersion in gastronomic experiences by tasting indigenous cuisines (Berbel-Pineda et al., 2019a).

The emergence of Civic Agriculture changed the entire conventional concept of food production. Civic Agriculture pertains to establishing agriculture rooted in the community, emphasising both production and consumption activities while fostering entrepreneurship and enhancing the community's identity. For agriculturists, the production function holds significance in ensuring the economic sustainability of agriculture. Production function is the number of resources, especially the land and the labour used to produce a given quantity of output. An ordinary farm family will produce ample commodities containing fruits, vegetables, dairy, live-stock, etc. Moreover, visitors can gain valuable experiences from these farmlands, mainly by learning about crops, cultivation techniques, and the processes involved in cultivating and harvesting these crops. The farmers and tourists will stand to benefit from agritourism by participating in gastronomic activities (Lyson, 2004).