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A Taste of Place: Virtual Discovery Center (ToP VDC) is a proposed interactive web-based platform created for and curated by host communities to document, interpret, and share the distinctive food and farming landscapes they steward. Grounded in Indigenous and local knowledge and supported by professional design, mapping, and curatorial standards, a Virtual Discovery Center brings together stories, data, maps, and media—often scattered across farms, families, archives, and organizations—into a living, place-based learning environment. Featuring elements such as story maps, movies and imagery that showcases of signature crops foods and food traditions, a ToP VDC supports education, intergenerational learning, community planning, and public understanding while allowing multiple, evolving voices to coexist within a shared framework. The initial ToP discovery phase includes “foxfire style” interviews of seniors by local high school students, storytelling, video and drone footage, recipe and photo collections, and other activities. The Lyson Center is currently exploring the development of a pilot ToP VDC in collaboration with a well-established region in New England. We envision a network of ToP VDCs around North America and the creation of a community of ToP facilitators who can share good practices is building community around local food and farming.

Taste of Place

Virtual Discover Centers

The Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.

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