This exploratory paper examines the role of food tourism in developing and sustaining regional identities within the context of rural regeneration, agricultural diversification and the creation of closer relationships between production and consumption in the countryside.

Elegantly written by a distinguished culinary historian, Food Is Culture explores the innovative premise that everything having to do with food—its capture, cultivation, preparation, and consumption—represents a cultural act. Even the "choices" made by primitive hunters and gatherers were determined by a culture of economics (availability) and medicine (digestibility and nutrition) that led to the development of specific social structures and traditions.

This report is a broad collection of research and essays on ethnocultural arts organizations across the United States and Canada. It examines the resources available to these groups and the challenges they face.

This book deals with policy-making in the cultural arena from an economic point of view and examines cultural policy in the arts, heritage, cultural industries, urban development, tourism, education, trade, cultural diversity, economic development, and intellectual property.

This guide represents Partners for Livable Communities culmination of the experience and knowledge on an issue that has such a great potential for community development. The report demonstrates how cultural heritage is not just something to preserve for future generations, but is in fact an asset that can be leveraged to bring real economic benefits to the community.

Americans are highly engaged in the arts and believe more strongly than ever that the arts promote personal well-being, help us understand other cultures in our community, are essential to a well-rounded K-12 education, and that government has an important role in funding the arts.

The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us—fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. The arts bring us joy, help us express our values, and build bridges between cultures. The arts are also a fundamental component of a healthy community—strengthening them socially, educationally, and economically—benefits that persist even in difficult social and economic times.

Local arts agencies—arts councils, arts commissions, cultural affairs departments—are an essential tool for community leaders as they rebuild their economies and promote social cohesion. The nation’s 4,500 local arts agencies (LAAs) support, present, and promote the dynamic value of the arts. Through their partnerships and leadership, LAAs are building healthier communities through the arts.

The Center for Cultural Exchange’s African in Maine aimed to build culture and community by assisting three newcomer African communities in Portland with developing cultural programming that would represent  their respective cultures and people. Dialogue occurred first within each of the Sudanese, Congolese, and Somali groups and second between individual African groups and the wider, white community of “Mainers.” The project aimed to address how cultural representation (or misrepresentation) can impact public perception of refugee communities and aimed to

This reflective essay documents the context, content, and unique circumstances of go_HOME, an international artist residency intended to generate dialogue about issues of exile and displacement. The project was centered in conceptual art, operated globally as well as locally, and experimented with real and virtual dialogue. In her role as Animating Democracy's project liaison to go_HOME, Pearlman observed the project as it unfolded. She engaged with organizers and artists in joint inquiry to draw insights and deepen understanding about the work of arts-based civic dialogue along a