The Triangle foodie scene is growing its digital footprint. A new website called TriangleGrown launched by the Destination Marketing Organizations for Orange, Durham, Johnston, Chatham and Wake Counties aims to promote agritourism by being a go-to resource for people interested in exploring the local farming community.
TriangleGrown provides information about farms that offer hands-on activities for visitors and lists a calendar of food events. It also has sample itineraries for those interested in spending an afternoon or a whole day farm-hopping in any one of the five counties.
“When people visit a farm, there is almost nothing left to the abstract about from where their food comes,” Elodie Farms owner Dave Artigues said in a statement from the Durham Visitors Bureau. “That sort of connection to the source makes people more informed and thoughtful consumers.”
Elodie Farms is in northern Durham County and produces goat cheeses, along with poultry, pork, produce and eggs. It is one of many farms featured on the new website promoting tours, cheese-making classes and other farm activities.
In addition to farms, the new website also highlights area restaurants and businesses that support local farms. There are links to the Smithfield Ham Shop in Johnston County, a cornfield maze in Orange County and the Heart of North Carolina Wine Trail in Chatham County.
According to a report from N.C. State’s Tourism Extension, marketing and promotion are two of the biggest challenges that farms deal with when launching agritourism programs. The DMOs hope that TriangleGrown will increase the reach of individual farms and promote them as attractions for the entire five-county region.