People-First Tourism Lab Blog

Much like women’s key roles in significant historic events have often been ignored and invisible, a semester in P1tLab engaging with women farm tourism microentrepreneurs has taught me that women farmers are a largely invisible army in our society’s fight for a sustainable future. I was delighted to learn that women farmers are moved by the beauty of nature and the liberating feeling of being surrounded by it. Indeed, I found that many women are turning to farming as a way to take their livelihoods into their own hands so that they can make a difference to their families, communities and our planet Earth. Moreover, their respect for nature and love for their land seem to grow when their micro-agribusinesses thrive - they strive to build a livelihood that nurtures and does no harm. This finding is particularly encouraging to me because throughout my time studying environmental science at NC State I learned about the shockingly harmful practices prevalent in large-scale farms. It is ...

Episode 1: We are the river, North Carolina USA The Coharie Indian Tribe is presently located along and around the Little Coharie River in the Southeastern region of North Carolina including Sampson and Harnett counties. Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to two leaders   and a young entrepreneur of the Coharie community about their identity and their growing involvement in tourism. Each of them emphasized the river’s importance as the tribe’s namesake. Philip Bell is the coordinator of the Great Coharie River Initiative, a volunteer effort dedicated to clearing debris and restoring the river. For his generation, who grew up in times of segregation, the river was everything. “The river meant a lot to my generation, because that was part of us,” he said, “the river is my home. That’s who I am.” His nephew Kullen Bell is a part of the river clean up initiative. “When I was growing up, I didn’t know about the river. We didn’t have access to it. So it’s like, these last few ye...