Expressing passion – The beginnings of a mission statement

I thought I would share the essay that I submitted for my application to the IACP for the scholarship I was awarded in 2008. I reference this a lot when I get discouraged and I will eventually rework this into a mission statement for Vineyard Adventures.

*****************

I became a Slow Food member six years ago believing that people’s food choices affect the rest of the world. At the time, I did not think joining would alter the course of my career. Then, I was simply a conscientious eater who tried to eat organic and shop at the farmers’ market. During last six years, I have become fervent supporter of the Slow Food movement and spent fall of 2006 volunteering at their headquarters in Piedmont, Italy. As a result of this conversion to a Slow way of life, I have left a 14-year career in the music industry to pursue my passion in the culinary field.
Leaving behind a successful career was a significant step, which took many years before I could commit to the change. It has been difficult but worth the effort. The transition began when I used my free electives at New York University for food studies courses. I enrolled in Food in the Arts: Film and The Mediterranean Diet, a study abroad course in Florence, Italy. I also took great pleasure in creating memorable meals for my friends. I came away from each dinner party energized in a way that time in a recording studio never did. With this newfound energy, I was able to make the leap.
For my new career, I am pursuing food and wine tourism. I have had many different kinds of travel experiences and I will never be the kind of tour guide that simply escorts passengers from point A to point B. I have learned that an excellent tour guide has an infectious enthusiasm on their topic of choice and is able to engage the guest with their passion. It is the experiential connection between a consumer and an organic vintner or sustainable food producer that excites me and is what I wish to facilitate as a tour guide.
Culinary tourism is growing industry. Eating “sustainable” and “local’ are terms that are finally making their way into the mainstream. More people than ever are traveling to a location to experience culture through food. This is reflected in the increasing number of companies that exclusively offer food and wine focused vacations. People who have stories that include their interaction with those who make what they consume have a more intimate and powerful experience and a greater potential to seek out local producers when they return home.
An excellent tour guide fully understands their subject and is able to engage the guest with their host or resource. However, I feel that wine school alone leaves me incomplete. All of the people I respect in this trade have both culinary and wine training. They can speak at length about food paring or are able to detect aromas and flavors in wines that only experience with food can bring. I want to guarantee that my guests have a complete experience and making sure I am prepared for that would be for me to attend culinary school.