Read the text and do the exercises below.

Anna Posyniak-dutka

Back To the Roots

AgritourismagritourismAgritourism is the practice of travelling through and staying in agricultural areas just to try farm activities and observe countryside life. Why would anyone like to do it? Well, agritourism has been gaining momentumgaining momentum [gain momentum]gaining momentum as a business model and taking a bigger and bigger share of the tourism marketshare of the tourism marketshare of the tourism market. Let’s see what it offers and why it attracts such large groups of people.

Farming has never been an easy way to make a livingmake a livingmake a living. What’s fairly new is the trend among city‑dwellerscity‑dwellers [city‑dweller]city‑dwellers who want to get back in touch withget back in touch withget back in touch with where their food comes from. The first steps in those people's journey back to nature is usually shopping in a farmers’ marketfarmers’ market or eating out in restaurants which buy their produceproduce (noun)produce straight from local farms. Some customers want more and they search for opportunities to pick their own fruit and vegetables directly from the places where they grow or at least go and see part of this process. On the other end of this relation, there are farmers for whom it is a great opportunity to augment their incomeaugment their income [augment an income]augment their income. HencehenceHence many farms try to monetise onmonetise on somethingmonetise on this trend and offer a fully customised experiencecustomised experiencecustomised experience.

Where will I stay?

The live‑on‑the‑farm experience is a form of a full immersion inimmersion inimmersion in countryside life. Obviously, tourists have their expectations so the accommodation offered is often quite luxurious. Cottages, log cabinslog cabins [log cabin]log cabins but also barn conversionbarn conversion or other farm buildings conversionsfarm buildings conversions [farm building conversion]farm buildings conversions are common. You can expect rustic decorrustic decorrustic decor inside, with a modern touch in the form of a sauna or a wooden hot water tubhot water tubhot water tub outside. HandcraftedhandcraftedHandcrafted elements, such as crocheted doiliescrocheted doilies [crocheted doily]crocheted doilies or handmade wooden furniture, are common elements of the interior design.

What will I do?

There is a wide range of activities agritourism holidays have on offerhave on offerhave on offer. You can sit in front of a wooden hut at dawnat dawnat dawn and listen to the sounds of a farm waking up to life. You can also participate in everyday activities, such as feeding animals, milking cowsmilking cows [milking a cow]milking cows or goats or collecting eggs. For real daredevilsdaredevils [daredevil]daredevils, farmers offer a ride on a tractor, or a truly unforgettable experience of removing manuremanuremanure, the best natural fertiliserfertiliserfertiliser, from the cowshedcowshedcowshed. Children might pet farm animals and understand the connection between cows and the milk that they put in their cereal every breakfast.

What will I eat?

The menu may vary but it’s guaranteed that everything will be fresh, organic and super tasty. If you want, you may be invited to participate in the process of food preparation. You can try your hand attry your hand at [try one’s hand at]try your hand at churning butterchurning butter [churn butter]churning butter in a traditional way and you will see how much physical power and patience it requires. In a milk farm, you will take part in the curdling processcurdling processcurdling process and learn what rennetrennetrennet is. Watch out as what you will learn or see may change your mind about your favourite products.

There is no such thing as downtimedowntimedowntime on a farm. Coming to stay on a farm can be a great opportunity to experience food production. On the other hand, it provides a chance to observe how much effort and hard work high quality and fresh produce needs. Hopefully, this will result in a bigger appreciationappreciationappreciation of farmers’ work.

1 Źródło: Anna Posyniak-dutka, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.