MIDDLEBURY — ACORN, the non-profit community organization based in Middlebury, next week will host a workshop for farmers on agricultural tourism showcasing best practices for safely engaging with visitors. This business development workshop is an opportunity to bring together food producers for peer-to-peer sharing.
The agritourism workshop will be held Wednesday, Feb. 28, 9 a.m.-noon at Goldenwell Farm and Apiary at 1089 River Road in New Haven. Speakers will include Vera Simon-Nobes of Shelburne Farms, Helen Laban of Vermont Fresh Network and Nichole Burke of Golden Well Farm and Apiaries.
The cost to attend is $10.
This informative meeting is a partnership of ACORN, Vermont Fresh Network, UVM Extension and Shelburne Farms. It is suitable for all farm operations such as pick your own, farm stays, special events from weddings to retreats, kids programming and school visits. Tourism businesses that intersect with agriculture including Airbnb special events and any business that has participated in or is interested in the statewide Open Farm Week. Town planners and state legislators are welcome to attend too.
DiginVT, a partnership of the Vermont Fresh Network and Agency of tourism, is an online farm-based search platform that will be a featured along with shared resources for best practices for creatively promoting agricultural tourism as an income generator.
The ACORN winter series includes ample time for peer-to-peer sharing. This workshop is designed to illuminate safe and effective practices based on years of experience from our speakers and personal insights on the complexities of regulatory agents impacting visitors to farms.
Register for the event and sign up for workshops at acornvt.org. A full list of workshops can be found there.
For additional information call Annie Harlow 802-922-7060.