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The Growing Popularity Of ‘Farm Vacations’

City slickers go on farm vacations to get respite from modern life.

Overstimulated urban dwellers are taking farm vacations to get back in touch with country life — a phenomenon that may help preserve America’s rural landscape. "Agri-tourism" generates considerable, much-needed revenue for Liberty Hill Farm in Vermont; it’s one of just a few thousand surviving farms in a state that once had tens of thousands.

Guests get room, board, and the chance to help out with chores. Recent visitors included a New York City-area couple delighted to see how the farm experience transformed their squeamish, city-bred daughters into enthusiastic cow-poop-shoveling farmhands. About 20 Vermont farms now offer overnight stays, and more than 50 have tourist attractions like pick-your-own-fruit orchards.

Despite fears that agri-tourism might turn small farms into theme parks, it could be key to saving them. Says Liberty Hill co-owner Beth Kennett, "There’s no way we could have stayed and kept the farm going without the extra income."

Full Story: http://www.planetizen.com/node/17280

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