Nature on a Plate: Linking Food and Tourism within the Ecosystem Services Framework

Abstract

This paper explores the links between local resources (the natural environment) and the local food on offer; i.e., what parts of nature reach the tourist’s plate. It is based on a content analysis of restaurant menus in the Great Masurian Lakes region, which is considered to be one of the main nature-based tourism destinations in Poland. The concept of Ecosystem Services (ES), closely interlinked with the idea of sustainable development, is employed as it recognizes the relationships between humans and the natural environment. The results indicate that food representing the region’s history is almost non-existent. Instead, the local food heritage is being reinvented based on the area’s iconic ES, i.e., wild food. In this way, the supply side of the ES cascade (ecosystem resources and potential) and its demand side (the benefits for tourists and the costs they pay to obtain these benefits) are encompassed on a tourist’s plate in Masurian restaurants. The findings also reveal that, in many cases, the localness of “local” food is an illusion. This, in turn, poses an important challenge for the sustainability of food (and) tourism in the studied area.

The Influence of Local Economic Conditions on Start-Ups and Local Open Innovation System

“…Open innovation works very well for start-ups in the form of restaurants [106,107]. Innovation then comes down to the use of healthy, ecological ingredients in dishes or traditional local cuisine.…”

Recognising, Safeguarding, and Promoting Food Heritage: Challenges and Prospects for the Future of Sustainable Food Systems

“…In fact, heritage realisation often occurs via an encounter with a form of social diversity that forces actors to rethink their value system [5]. Phenomena such as migrations [42,49] and growing international interest in local food and food-related experiences (e.g., food tourism in rural regions) [17,68] can mobilise actors in the process towards the recognition of food as part of their collective heritage.…”

“…The current discussion explores how the elevation of food to the status of heritage can enhance the sustainability of the food system while safeguarding traditional food resources through the active participation of local communi-ties [8][9][10][11][12][13]. More recently, there has been increasing attention to the relationship between food heritage and socio-cultural sustainability [14][15][16][17].…”

Urban Gardens as Sustainable Attractions for Children in Family Tourism

“…Urban gardens are an example of equilibrated relationships between rural and urban areas [49], where "cities are increasingly taking the lead in the food system transition with a focus on city-region-based food provision" [9] (p. 1). In this sense, local food consumption is crucial in tourism [50,51], and it greatly influences tourist experiences [52,53]. Within the intersection between horticulture and tourism, "local food experiences can become strong linkages between tourism and local horticultural production" [41] (p. 136).…”