food and culture of australia should include the current points
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Impact of food tourism on regional food systems
Culture influences the local food consumption patterns. Tourists have changed from visiting museums and historical sites to more food. Most countries have been known to use food as a product for tourism attraction. Consequently, the political systems in these food destination countries favor the high yielding tourists who are able to bring wealth to the local economies (Yeoman & Meethan, 2015). Therefore food tourism offers an authentic experience to a local or regional brand. Issues such as culture, socio demographic characteristics, the past experiences with the local food cuisines and their food personality traits define the consumption patterns of the local food industries. Therefore destination tourism defines the habits, food production systems and output capacity of local economies.
Impacts on the domestic food system of Australia
Food tourism is crucial for the development of local economies as competitive tourist destinations. Food tourism has a multiplier effect to the growth of the regional agricultural sectors and food industries. The primary and secondary producers in the food tourism sector include the agricultural sectors, food festivals, restaurants and food tasting locations. Therefore investments in large scale farming arise as a consequence of these changing migration patterns. For example, a farmers market in a food tourist destination site can act as a retail outlet and a tourist attraction site. This can offer an authentic alternative to the bland and tasteless food items found in the local food retail outlets (Ellis, Park, Kim & Yeoman, 2018, 257). Therefore there is an art and a science involved in food tourism and hospitality industries.
Agri-tourism in Australia has been found to provide the local markets with organic food, wine and fiber. A majority of the small scale Australian farmers produce food for display at the farmer markets. The large farmers on the other hand specialize in wine production that is often expanded by including a chalet into the vineyard (Ecker et al., 2010, 20). Australia is composed of 10 regional agri-tourism hubs. These include the south western parts of Australia, the eastern Gippslands, Tamar valley, the Northern Rivers and the tropical northern Queensland regions among others. These regional food zones are characterized by common features such as tourist accommodation sites, infrastructure and accessibility to urban centers. This includes farm based bed and breakfast hotels.
How food systems affect the tourism behavior
The desire to satisfy the state of local cousins has drawn travellers into remote parts of the globe. Food tourism therefore brings people together including political organizations, international tourists, local communities to become part of a regional cultural identity. To these social groupings food becomes the center of socialization which is enhanced by a sharing of personal identities, enriching experiences and long term friendships. Some of the lifestyles promoted by these rural settings include agricultural lifestyles and food based experiences. Examples include wine tours, horse riding, food festivals and rural culture among other farm based recreational activities (Ecker et al., 2010, 20). The farmers in these regions use farm level business models to generate income from local tourism.
This includes offering recreational activities within their farms like nature watching and educational tourist packages. These farm based experiences creates the additional benefit of offering an authentic experience to food tourists. This includes knowledge acquisition on wine production techniques, a connection with the local community of growers and the hands on experience of picking the farm berries. Food festivals have become a crucial part of destination food tourism. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) published a global report on food tourism that highlights a growing global trend towards tourist festivals and events. Some of the common terms used in this form of food tourism include gourmet tourism, culinary and tasting tourism among others (Ellis, Park, Kim & Yeoman, 2018, 252). Some of the food festivals in Australia include farm days that are composed of more than 500 farmers (Ecker et al., 2010, 29). These farmers promote and educate visitors about the local food production systems.
Role of Biotechnology in food system of Australia
The risks posed by these local food consumption experiences can inhibit the growth of the local food production systems. Issues such as climate changes have been found to influence the uptake of Agri-tourism within the region. This has forced the farm owners to diversify their income portfolio to include a variety of income generating activities within the farm. Extreme weather changes such as drought and cyclones have been known to deter visitors during certain seasons. The effect of too much heat on the crops often leads to crop losses for farmers. This forces the farmers to find alternative shading and irrigation systems to keep their farms running during the drought seasons. Frequent wild fires during the summer periods also keep tourists away.
The use of biotechnology within the food industry enhances the shelf life, nutritional capacity and taste of the foods produced in Australia. These biotechnologies have been instrumental in meeting food productions during drought seasons and the development of commercially viable food varieties. Australia has implemented various non-GM biotechnologies within the agricultural supply chain. New strains of yeast have been discovered for fermenting uniquely flavored wine beverages. For example, livestock breeders are able to obtain genetic information and breeding stock that will earn them more money and mature quickly. Some of the common plant genetic materials already being harnessed include disease resistant strawberries that have superior flavors and early flowering characteristics. Other examples include the use of DNA harnessing to develop a smut resistant sugar cane variety (Thorburn & Parbeen, 2007, 2). However the civil society groups have shown concern over the continued use of genetically modified foods within the Australian food production systems (Scrinis & Lyons, 2007). Friends of the earth Australia has called for the regulation of this industry
Emerging trends & market drivers
The key driver to the Australian that promotes agri-tourism business includes effective marketing approaches, development of tour networks, clustering of businesses and integrated support systems. Australia utilizes the regional agri-tourism marketing strategy to promote the country as a food destination. This includes allowing tourists to visit farms and food businesses such as farmer markets and restaurants as natural attraction sites. Other than that these food sites offer educational opportunities for visitors including engaging and enjoyable events. The wine tourism conference that was held in Australia in 1998 opened more avenues for new forms of wine tourism (Getz & Brown, 2006, 147). The places that produce favorite wine brands such as Bordeaux have become exciting and magical to visit.
The Australian government has implemented various marketing and branding campaigns to promote the rural agri-tourism sector. This includes the use of online platforms for promoting tourist itinerary plans. The use of interactive maps as well as farm related events and activities. However, these marketing messages focus more on the wine producing regions than the agricultural parts of rural Australia. Therefore Australia has been marketed more as a wine producing country (Getz & Brown, 2006, 148). Australia has been branded as a destination for wine tourists through distinctive geographical features that gives it a natural appeal. These biased marketing messages have led to the economic development of certain geographical regions in Australia while neglecting the crucial food production sectors. These Australian farms are marketed through a network of 1,200 farmers called WWOOFs (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) (Ecker, et al., 2010, 30).These organized farmer network information systems have been instrumental in attracting both local and international Agri-tourists.
Australia is composed of industry clusters of businesses that sell products within and outside the region. These companies supply raw materials and services to the tourism sector. These firms are able to harness their large numbers to negotiate for better markets for their products. An example of this food cluster is the Australian wine industry. These independent firms work together to drive better prices while exporting their wine products and technological know-how into the international markets. These family owned farms are reinforced by family networks (Hall, 2005). Agri-tourism has become a crucial part of Australia’s rural economy. The co-ordinated regional approach to managing Agri-tourism has helped grow the individual businesses within the rural areas. The changing land values within the region have also contributed to a high demand for productive land around the urban centers that experiences a higher demand for visitors (Ecker, et al., 2010, 21). The farm owners who buy into these lands are able to venture into tourism in order to pay off the large capital investments used to acquire the property.
Organizations that impact the food system
The farmers who glean value from the Agri-tourism supply chain have learnt how to market and sell products to the tourism market. This includes food, wine and fiber producers. Many of the primary producers sell their produce directly to restaurants through a global food distribution channel. The benefits of using these official channels include closer connections with customers and improved earnings. However, other farmers open their businesses to the public by selling their fresh produce using farm gate licenses. These farmers sell direct to their customers and are therefore able to make three times the mount they would make through the wholesale marketing channels. The benefit of this system comes when the farmer is able to reduce some of the distribution costs therefore receiving a higher profit margin for their produce (Ecker, et al., 2010, 33). The pick your own model on the other hand favors the customer by offering discounted prices for picking their own food products from the farm. The local restaurants, manufacturing industries, farmers markets and stay in hotels generate the demand for these local produce.
Impacts on the global food system
Globalization has contributed to the demand and supply of local culinary cultures. This refers to the consumption preferences of tourists within their chosen destination countries. The salient factors that influence the local food consumption patterns are the obligatory aspect of food tourism. This includes neophobic and neophilic tendencies of tourists (Mak, Lumbers & Eves, 2012). Neophobia includes a fear or resistance to new food palates. Neophilia on the other hand deals with the adventure, openness, over experimentation and exploration of a variety of foods within a tourist destination site (Mak, Lumbers & Eves, 2012). The segment of tourists who show an enthusiasm to sample local food cuisines have been considered to be a crucial element to food tourism. These tourists support the local tourist experience during peak periods.
Australia has emerged as a globalized economy with a large fusion of cuisines, ingredients and taste. These gastronomic food offerings have emerged as a result of international influences of migration from European and Asian countries (Mak, Lumbers & Eves, 2012, 17). The local food consumption patterns are not static variables and continue to evolve depending with changing times and external stimuli. Therefore it is difficult to define what an authentic food culture is depending on changing cultural beliefs and norms. Australia uses regional product codes and certifications to ensure the foods remain authentic to the location they were produced. Hawkesbury harvest is an example of a label that identifies genuine food products produced from Australia. These sorts of labels also includes environmental labels for easy identification of the regions they are produced. The Yara valley regional food group also uses the same strategy to market food produce such as wine that comes from the Yara valley in Australia (Ecker et al.,2010, 29). However, the brands that market a very wide set of products fail to achieve brand recognition.
Policies to guide globalization
Globalization has transformed local food consumption patterns and production systems. Food tourism has been one of the major influencers to these changing consumption patterns. Food tourism has become a means of socializing people around different cultural lifestyles. The tourist’s food choices and preferences is a crucial driving force for the local food demand and agricultural production systems. This includes the volumes of food imported for tourists. Government can use food tourism to develop the infrastructure and economies of rural communities (Tikkanen, 2007, 728). Therefore creating incentives to grow rural agrarian economies that support the food tourists can help generate more employment opportunities within the local small scale farmers.
Food tourism has become an extremely competitive market segment with rival destinations marketing to entice more visitors. Therefore local tourist destination sites should find a unique way of marketing their destination offering. The local governments should also limit the amount of food imports into their local economies to support food tourism. This can lead to the loss of economic opportunities that food tourism provides to local economies and agricultural sectors (Henderson, 2009, 321). Therefore strengthening the food supply chain in food destination sites is crucial in meeting the capacity of meeting the food demand during peak seasons. These policies might work to reduce food waste within the supply chain and long distance transportation of food items.
Advertising an image of an accommodating cosmopolitan destination includes the use of familiar food offerings in tandem with marketing the local cuisines. A suitable food marketing strategy would be to combine local cuisines with non-food tourist attraction products such as exotic buildings as suitable food and wine tasting fairs (Henderson, 2009, 321). The bad publicity that surrounds local food networks such as food poisoning can be managed through a comprehensive training and education of a skilled workforce. This marketing strategy will reduce the amount of disappointments food tourists face due to bad service and the serving of underwhelming food (Henderson, 2009, 322). Consequently making food tourism part of a lifestyle that visitors want to experience is likely to attract more tourists.
Managerial decisions of food system
There is a huge link between local food systems and the country’s social capital, political good will and cultural connections. Issues of interest include local food production techniques, food storage hygiene practices and food legislation policies. These countries invest in sustainable programs to deal with challenges local agricultural challenges such as large scale production of organic food items and management of the effects of global warming. There are limited strategic resources directed towards the agri-tourism sectors in Australia (Ecker et al., 2010). There is limited institutional support from the local and national Australian governments. Some of the legal and regulatory barriers within the agri-tourism business include getting building approvals, land protection clearance and getting approvals for building codes.
Some of these approvals have been noted to be more suitable for urban than rural setting environments. This includes the protection of rural agricultural lands from rapid urbanization that would lead to a declining food production system. Th restrictions surrounding agricultural land has made it difficult for some farm owners to benefit from the local tourism industries. The conservative nature of the countryside is presenting small businesses with restrictions on food safety standards, liquor licensing and business signage (Ecker et al., 2010, 23). An example includes the restrictions on using chlorinated rain water to supply local hotels with clean drinking water. In addition to that farmers are not licensed to sell produce what they have grown on their farms or crops grown from other farms. These food restrictions ensure that farms sell authentic produce unique to their regions and climatic weather.
References
Ecker, S., Clarke, R., Cartwright, S., Kancans, R., Please, P., & Binks, B. (2010). Drivers of regional agritourism and food tourism in Australia. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics–Bureau of Rural Sciences.
Ellis, A., Park, E., Kim, S., & Yeoman, I. (2018). What is food tourism?. Tourism Management, 68, 250-263.
Getz, D., & Brown, G. (2006). Critical success factors for wine tourism regions: a demand analysis. Tourism management, 27(1), 146-158.
Ghimire, M., Chowdhury, M., & Bakth, R. (2014). FOOD BOUNDS CULTURE, CULTURE BOUNDS TOURISM: International Food Festival in Centria University of Applied Sciences.
Hall, C. M. (2005). Rural wine and food tourism cluster and network development. Rural tourism and sustainable business, 26, 149-164.
Henderson, J. C. (2009). Food tourism reviewed. British food journal, 111(4), 317-326.
Mak, A. H., Lumbers, M., & Eves, A. (2012). Globalisation and food consumption in tourism. Annals of tourism research, 39(1), 171-196.
Scrinis, G., & Lyons, K. (2007). The emerging nano-corporate paradigm: nanotechnology and the transformation of nature, food and agri-food systems. International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 15(2), 22-44.
Tikkanen, I. (2007). Maslow's hierarchy and food tourism in Finland: five cases. British food journal, 109(9), 721-734.
Yeoman, I., & Meethan, K. (Eds.). (2015). The future of food tourism: foodies, experiences, exclusivity, visions and political capital (Vol. 71). Channel View Publications.