Regional Cultural Imperialism and the land of Tenderloin Sandwiches

October 2 2007

Regional Cultural Imperialism and the land of Tenderloin Sandwiches

The European-ization of America through the marketing filter of P.T. Barnum-like promotion continues unabated with Food Trails now getting their moment in the sun, trailing the ubiquitous Wine Trail, but never quite merging.

Culinary destinations abound in Europe, but are just starting to penetrate our consciousness in the states.

It seems like Oregon is kind of leading this travel marketing around food movement—complete with a couple of downloadable little ditties like “Foodies, Rejoice.” And “99 Bottles of Pinot Noir” (Hint: when you listen to the songs, keep an ear open for the mixed in fuzz from playing a record—nice touch)

Portfolio magazine, a new, glossy magazine (kind of like Vanity Fair for the Fortune magazine set) had an interesting article last month on food destinations in the U.S. invoking the good name of Napa Valley as a reference point.

From the article:

Time was when Napa Valley was just Napa Valley—a sleepy, mostly agricultural corner of Northern California that looked a little like Tuscany and felt a lot like a backwater.

Then came Napa Valley wines, which turned the region’s name into a brand. These days, every place wants to be the Napa Valley of something. Colorado claims to be the Napa Valley of the Beer World; Kona, Hawaii wants to be the Napa Valley of Coffee; and America’s Hereford beef farmers assert that the entire Midwest is the Napa Valley of Beef.

With all the claims to fame, where is a hungry traveler to turn? We’ve picked five lesser-known North American locales that have organized themselves into foodie-friendly destinations and offer good eating. While they may be familiar to some, none attract Napa Valley-like hordes.

The article goes on to highlight the North Carolina Barbecue Trail, the Okanagan Wine Trail, the Oregon Ale Trail, the Vermont Cheese Trail and the Fresno County Fruit Trail.

Not to be outdone, I read in my local weekly business newspaper, the Indianapolis Business Journal, that Indiana is trying to get into the game, as well. Apparently, this culinary tourism is hot stuff.

According to the article the International Culinary Tourism Association and the Travel Industry Association teamed up to study how food impacts travel decisions. According to the study, 17 percent of American travelers go out of their way to hit local food and wine hot spots while traveling. And within that 17 percent –about 27 million people- 16 million of them travel purely for the restaurant stops.

The Food Network brass aren’t dummies, how else to explain “Feasting on Asphalt” and “Diner’s Drive-In’s and Dives?”

Mentally, I tie this foodie destination movement in lock-step with the wine trails that are all over the country, even if the two don’t seem to intermingle that well. When the wine and food travel marketers can play nice and do collaborative efforts together, similar to Oregon, then we’ll really be on to something pretty cool.

Then if you take this more European-like reverence for food and drink together with a more laissez-fair attitude similar to what is highlighted in Alder’s post at Vinography, I think our culture will be immensely for the better.

However, Indiana is talking about developing a Tenderloin trail, after our semi-famous (notorious?) pork tenderloin sandwiches and the Hoosier Pie Route—a food trail for pies. Given this information, I have one question: Coupled with Indiana wines noted for being sweet, are we advancing the movement of food and wine pairings or setting it back a couple of decades?