We have written some about the Farm Based Education group out of New England, and now a new term, Agritourism, is coming from farms that open their doors to the public down in Arkansas.
WHY AGRITOURISM ? “The simplest definition of agritourism is anything that brings the buyer to the property,” said Miles Phillips, who oversees nature tourism in Texas. Nature tourism includes not only agritourism but also hunting, fishing and adventure tourism, he said. “There’s a lot of activity in the whole sector,” Phillips said, spurred in part by Richard Louv’s 2005 book Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder. Louv wrote that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development and the physical and emotional health of children and adults.
Couple of years ago we were in Vermont in the late summer, and there was a sunflower field that had been cut into a maze. My ten year old daughter and her cousins had a blast getting lost in that five acre field.
Pumpkin Hollow in Arkansas is a similar experience. Also, the Vermont Farm Association has a great website that points to many farms and their events.
Farms and kids are a winning combination.
