Last month in Portland Oregon, the World Food Travel Association officially kicked off Cascadian Cuisine, a new initiative focused on the continuing promotion of food found, cooked and created throughout the Pacific Northwest. The conference brought tourism offices, food & drink producers, association leaders, wineries, brewers, chefs and journalists together for a full day of strategic planning & thought leadership, with the goal that the regional awareness will drive consumer consciousness, create jobs, and support responsible and local tourism efforts of communities across the bioregion. At the meeting, the Association welcomed some of the most fervent food, drink and tourism players in the region to discuss topics such as borders, agricultural hallmarks, local entrepreneurship and sustainability in Cascadia. Erik Wolf, Executive Director of WFTA explained the vision, “At its very core, Cascadian Cuisine is about economic, sustainable and community development – bringing awareness, creating jobs, and preserving communities and the culinary culture of our region.”

Cascadian Cuisine draws deeply on the passion and unsurpassed quality of food and drink found in the bio-region that includes northwestern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Idaho and western Montana. In other words, as Jason French, Chef/Owner at Portland’s popular Ned Ludd Restaurant, says “the quality of our food and drink is very much grounded in the quality of the agricultural products found in Cascadia.”

For more information, including how to get involved with this project, please contact Executive Director of the WFTA, Erik Wolf at erik@worldfoodtravel.org OR (+1) 503-213-3700