它在（农产品）包中

Vacation season is upon us. And, although it looks very different this year in the midst of a pandemic, one program is working hard to support coastal tourism in North Carolina while creating new revenue opportunities for local farmers.

The度假者支持农业计划 - 由北卡罗来纳州合作扩展和北卡罗来纳州的初创企业首先旅游公司领导的计划 - 将景观者与新鲜的当地农产品联系起来，甚至在他们的沙子上踩到脚趾之前。

“A large number of visitors opt to book a self-catered vacation rental, such as a cabin in the mountains or a beach condo on the coast, due to a perception of better value and convenience,” says Duarte Morais, People-First Tourism founder and an associate professor in NC State’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. “As a result, many renters arrive at their destination with home-bought groceries in an attempt to optimize their precious few days of vacation.”

莫拉伊斯（Morais）以及贝基·鲍恩（Becky Bowen），苏珊·杰克斯（Susan Jakes），汉娜·丹克巴尔（Hannah Dankbar）和其他同事Fork to Farmerproject, realized this represented a significant revenue loss for North Carolina farmers and set out to develop a new way for them to tap into the state’s tourism economy.

With grant funding from the United States Department of Agriculture, the VSA program has expanded from serving one beach in 2018 to more than eight beaches along the North Carolina coast today, with sights set on the Outer Banks as a potential new market.

How Does it Work?

参加程序以单击链接开始。

如果您已经通过该计划之一预订了夏季租金参与房地产, you’ll receive an email before you arrive that invites you to purchase a bag of fresh local produce.

Choose your vacation week from a drop-down list, select the number of produce bags you’d like, and pay online. Then, pick up your produce at an easy-access location when you arrive at the beach. Recipe cards often accompany the bags for tourists who may never have encountered, say, okra, or other Southern vegetables and fruits.

简单，对吗？

然而，幕后是许多不同人的巨大，高度协调的努力，使复杂的系统无缝地工作。

This includes Extension staff from numerous county centers, nonprofit organizations, farmers, and People-First Tourism, the company that developed the software for the online ordering system.

The VSA program follows three business models to accommodate the needs of and resources available in each community served. For example, in Brunswick County, a nonprofit organization serves as an intermediary aggregator and distributor. In Pender County, a farmer fills those roles.

鲍恩说：“这是一次很棒的合作，很多人都做出了很多贡献。”

It Takes a Village

为了成功启动该计划，鲍恩说，他们很快意识到需要一个现场聚合器。因此，不伦瑞克县的推广总监马克·布莱维斯（Mark Blevins）将他们与北卡罗来纳州德尔科（Delco）的社区枢纽和工作发展中心的男女联合的兰道夫·基顿（Randolph Keaton）联系在一起。

基顿说：“我们将农产品包装在我们的工作中心，然后将其运送到海滩区域并在本赛季每个星期六分发。”“所有工作都是由我们真正拥有该计划所有权的青年大使团队完成的。他们真的很喜欢。

“It’s amazing to me, that on a Friday afternoon, they want to come here and spend five or six hours putting produce in bags, shucking corn, sorting cucumbers or whatever it takes, and they’re happy spending their time that way,” he says. “They’re gaining independence and learning about business operations, but they’re also getting hands-on experience with agriculture.”

人民优先的旅游also played a key role in getting the VSA program off the ground.

Morais, who jokingly refers to himself as “lead instigator,” describes it as “a social movement with a business model embedded in it.” The company’s mission is especially meaningful to him because his family operates an agritourism farm in Portugal.

“We formed People-First Tourism to study the less-served people in tourism, the local people, who we call microentrepreneurs,” Morais says. “Because we are advancing academic knowledge and Extension programming through our collaboration with them, we also feel ethically bound to help them earn income from the tourism economy.”

So Morais and his team created an online marketplace where locals could sell experiences, such as farm stays and art walks, in exchange for participating in the researchers’ studies. The company is NC State’s first tech-based social venture, he says.

从第一天开始，人们首先参与了VSA计划，管理在线预播销售以及向农民和送货微型企业家支付的付款。为了与VSA计划合作，该公司收集了一小部分农产品袋。

这对每个参与其中的人来说都是胜利。

Farmers are paid in advance for their produce sales, often receiving checks in May for bags to be distributed in August.

“度假者支持的农业计划为我们的农场增添了很多价值，”北卡罗来纳州枫树山的Bear Ridge Farms的Brian Knowles说。“它帮助我们能够出售更多的农产品，包括西红柿，南瓜，西葫芦，辣椒和甜玉米。能够为我们的农产品提供来自该国不同地区的度假者是一种很棒的感觉。”

Leaps and Bounds

When the program started in 2018 in Ocean Isle Beach under the local name “Vacation Vittles,” it involved one realty company and 10 farmers.

积极的调查结果和关键受众群体的兴趣日益增长，鼓励该计划扩展到海岸的几个新目的地。

莫拉伊斯说，这对每个参与其中的人来说都是胜利。

“The program helps realty companies showcase their commitment to neighboring communities and working lands, provides professional development opportunities to local aspiring youth, and creates an important new revenue stream to small farmers near tourism destinations.”

After a successful first season, they hired a part-time staffer to develop realty company partners in seven more beaches across three additional counties. Extension also cultivated relationships with new farmers interested in participating in the program.

By spring 2019, the VSA program had partnered with 13 realty companies, more than 40 farmers and seven beaches.

希望在2020赛季更成功。

然后，covid

该计划在2019年售出了1200袋，预计将扩大到三到四个新县，并于今年夏天出售约3,000袋。

“But now with COVID we just have no idea of how many we will sell,” Morais says.

The founders of People-First Tourism met in March to decide whether or not to pull the plug. The company had already invested about $2,000 in staff and was tempted to pull back, Morais says.

他说：“但是我们不想妥协我们建立的所有关系，我们认为可能发生的最糟糕的是再损失两到三千美元。”“如果我们坚持下去并出售了一些袋子，它可能会使农民和计划受益。”

So they decided to move forward, on the condition that all sales are nonrefundable. Here’s the best part: If customers who buy the produce aren’t able to travel because of COVID-19, the produce is donated to unemployed tourism workers in coastal communities.

And the bags are selling.

“我认为这显示了level of humanity that perhaps this pandemic is eliciting in many of us,” Morais says. “People maybe are a little bit more selfless, and they are thinking more collectively. I find it’s very heartwarming.”

The VSA program is following CDC and travel association regulations for this summer, Bowen says. Extension also has developed safety protocols for farmers and customers to follow.

鲍恩说：“我们非常担心每个人都遵循适当的协议，在社会距离和穿着防护装备方面。”“我们正在尽可能关注无触摸的交付。”

由于资助大学的奥利ve AgPrime Program (funded through the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund), they’ve been able to provide farmers, staff and volunteers with gloves, masks and hand sanitizer. The grant also enabled the purchase of insulated zipper-closed bags, which discourage customers from handling the product.

鲍恩说，来自男女联合会的青年大使在每个皮卡地点都建立了洗手液站，他们都接受了哥伦布县扩展的安全培训。

鲍恩说：“几乎所有房地产公司都在今年参加，但是由于对大流行和市场不确定性的担忧，其中几个下降了。”“因此，我们发现了其他皮卡网站，例如服务集市和冲浪商店。”

One month into the 2020 season, spirits are high. Produce bag sales are on track to meet the number sold in 2019. And plans are in the works to continue expanding the program to more North Carolina beaches and other tourist destinations around the state, Bowen says.

“No matter what our customers decide to do this summer, something good happens,” Morais says. “Either they enjoy fresh local produce on their beach vacation, or if they decide not to come, they’re still supporting local communities that are struggling because tourism is down. We just want the program to provide a little bit of relief.”

如果您有兴趣购买VSA产品袋，请访问这个网站for a list of participating realties and beaches.