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The survey's preliminary findings suggest agritourism can indeed be a profitable supplement to a farm or ranch business. Agricultural tourism allows travelers a chance to visit working farms and ranches and can include experiences such as picking their own fruit, visiting a petting zoo, touring a vineyard, buying fresh produce or riding horses. Small farms made up more than two-thirds of the farms that reported offering agritourism.

"We are excited to find that agritourism really seems to work for a lot of small farms," said Penny Leff, statewide agritourism coordinator for the UC Small Farm Program. "Our results also show that agritourism is primarily local. More than 85 percent of reported visitors were from California."

Most agritourism operators who responded to the survey reported their agritourism businesses generated some profit. A majority said they are planning to expand or diversify their agritourism offerings over the next five years. In addition, 22 percent of agritourism operators reported more than $100,000 in agritourism receipts for 2008.

The survey was conducted by a group of researchers from University of California Cooperative Extension and the UC Small Farm Program, with funding from the California Communities Program. Researchers first mailed questionnaires in January to nearly 2,000 potential agritourism operators in every California county.

"Eating Local" and Sustainable Food Production in the San Francisco Foodshed

Local food is distinguished not only by where it originates, but also by who produces it and how. The question is being asked, "Could the City of San Francisco feed itself with local food from farms and ranches within 100 miles of the Golden Gate?"

Agriculture within the San Francisco Bay area "foodshed," as defined for a 2008 study, produces 20 million tons of food annually, compared with annual food consumption of 935,000 tons in San Francisco and 5.9 million tons in the Bay Area as a whole.

More than 80 different commodities are represented, only a few of which are not produced in enough abundance to satisfy the demands of the City and Bay Area: eggs, citrus fruit, wheat, corn, pork and potatoes. Many other commodities are available only seasonally, even though northern California has a long growing season.

Most of what is produced in the San Francisco foodshed study area comes from the Central Valley and the Salinas Valley. Only 18% of the farmland in the 10 million acre study area is irrigated cropland, but it is responsible for 3/4 of total agricultural production by dollar value. This land is increasingly threatened by urban development. Already, 12% of the foodshed study area is already developed and new development is consuming farmland at the rate of an acre for every 9.7 residents.

If this continues, 800,000 more acres of farmland will be lost by 2050.

Wild rice, peaches, avocados, brocolli, lettuce, ... the list goes on!  California is the American produce center because of our wonderful year round weather, fertile valleys and access to markets.  And Americans can keep this asset robust by buying and cooking American foods!

Want a cookbook that is all about California grown foods?  It's free on the CaliforniaGrown.org website!

Remember the little fruit stands that used to be the norm along suburban and rural roads?  I grew us shopping at our neighbors' farm stands...and even sold homegrown dill and apples in our own miniature version as a rural version of a kids' lemonaide stand.  Can you imagine the sparse customers for dill? :-)  But we actually had a few regular customers who needed dill for their pickle canning...and it gave  me my first taste of agricultural marketing!

California is a big state...an agricultural state and a state with millions of potential "local shoppers".  Now we just need to understand WHY that is important.   My husband and I were discussing the news I read this morning about a man from Croatia flying to New York to buy clothes because they are such a bargain right now!!!!!  What?!?  Croatia -- that war ravaged country that is trying to recover -- they are flying to New York City -- one of the most expensive US cities in which to live?  What's changing this drastically?

One word.  We've lost our local manufacturing // and agriculture.

That's why shopping at local farm stands, local farmers markets and insisting that your grocery store carry locally grown produce rather than imports is important. 

Barbara Steinberg recently wrote about how she's trying hard to buy local...and how it's not always easy!

I really took it to heart when learning about the whole "farm to table" philosophy, which promotes buying produce that's been grown within 100 miles of home.  Let me tell you something...it's tough.  But I try. And failing that, I tell myself, "It must at least have been grown in California." When that doesn't work...at the very least, it should be grown in the U.S.  How hard could that be? Well, sometimes really, really hard. Why? Because labeling is so misleading and even with produce you to read the fine print.  Haas California avocados are a great example. You see them everywhere.  But many times, those buttery fruits are grown in Chile. CaliforniaInsier.typepad.com

Buy   There are great farm, wine, and harvest trails throughout the state.

Barbara includes a wonderful list of FARM TRAILS in California on her blog.  I hope that if you live in California, or are coming to visit this summer, you'll support our local California farmers ... and treat yourself to the succulent, fresh, tasty products of our all-American soil!  Barbara's list of FARM TRAILS is worth exploring!

The Earthbound Farm Farm Stand in Carmel Valley, California, offers more than unique organic produce and flowers fresh from our fields — there's delicious food from our certified Organic Kitchen, gourmet groceries, and engaging events for the whole family. Come visit us!

Our Farm Stand: The hub of our 30-acre organic R&D farm offers unique fresh produce and flowers, gourmet groceries, plus a Cut-Your-Own Herb Garden and more.

Organic Kitchen: Hungry? Every day our certified Organic Kitchen in the Farm Stand creates organic treats for every taste — from beverages, baked goodies, and entrees to a tempting all-organic salad bar.

What's Happening at the Farm Stand: From April through October, a wide range of engaging events take place each Saturday.

Ask Farmer Mark: What makes organic farming so special? Ask someone with more than 26 years of organic farming experience: "Farmer Mark" Marino, our Carmel Valley farm manager — we sell his premium organic produce at our Farm Stand.

Our Farm Stand is Open Year-Round
Hours: Mon-Sat 8-6:30, Sun 9-6
7250 Carmel Valley Road (just 3.5 miles east of Highway 1), Carmel, CA
831-625-6219