Agri-Tourism is the way forward for the Foothills region according to a study done by Foothills Tourism.

The group used a Provincial grant last year to do a market survey to determine the potential of developing a visitor economy in the Foothills.

Hugo Bonjean says as part of that survey they focused on agri-tourism and farm to table with some interesting results.

"Ninety-one percent of Calgarians have an interest in local foods, 70 percent of Calgarians would be interested to drive 30 to 60 minutes to buy their foods directly from a local farm and 41 percent of that 70 percent would be interested in doing that four to six times a year," he says.

Bonjean says that equates to about 92,000 families.

He says it's not just a benefit for the consumer.

"This would really directly benefit local farms as they would be able to sell directly to the consumer, it would help with employment, it would provide a strategy for family farms to retain that farm within the family, it would keep youth in our community it would help with food security for the region and it will bridge the divide between the rural and urban citizen," Bonjean says.

Foothills Tourism is using an $81,000 grant from Community Foundations of Canada to do more market research to determine which farms are set up properly to sell and market their products and how to provide support for those who aren't.

Any farms that would like to participate can email the group at info@foothillstourism.com or any business or individual that wants to support them they can go to the website and register there.

 

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