Food stories unknown - what the sustainable travel industry can learn from the legacy of Anthony Bourdain

Mural by @Ketones6000

To understand just how much food, travel and storytelling are the three key ingredients any tourism organization wants to have in its strategy store cupboard, just study the work and wanderlust of the late and great Anthony Bourdain. In his award-winning TV series, Parts Unknown, he takes over a hundred journeys to places around the world where he tucks into some of the tastiest tales. His work is a masterclass in storytelling, and its global success a wake-up call to any tourism organization that isn’t putting food on the table of its content strategy. Here are our top tips on understanding and creating food content that honors some of Bourdain’s brilliance.

Feed the sustainable tourism movement

If you are seeking sustainability status then food has to be on the content menu. Sustainability is often divided into four pillars and the food flag can pretty much be flown from all of them. It supports the local economy, eating locally sourced ingredients is environmentally friendly, cuisine is central to understanding and protecting cultural heritage and, socially, breaking bread with local people is both respectful and responsible. And yet, so many tourism organizations stick food so far back in their website content, it’s as if they don’t have an appetite for real sustainability.

Food tourism isn’t niche

One thing is for sure. Not everyone wants to surf, cycle or snorkel on their vacations, but everyone does want to eat. Of course there will always be foodies who travel specifically to taste the Khmer curry of Cambodia, savor an arancini in Sicily or an okonomiyaki in Osaka. However, by creating storytelling content around local food markets, chefs who practice sustainability, cultural food hubs and best kept culinary secrets in your destination, you are inviting all visitors to the table. Visitors who may just be setting out to fill their bellies at the end of the day but instead, thanks to content that leads them in the right direction, find themselves full to the brim on fine food that feeds the soul.

Food stories are like onions

Just like onions, food stories have layers. The good ones may even make you cry, but in a good way. Anthony Bourdain’s food storytelling was incredibly strong because it also had layers. And, more often than not, it packed an emotional punch too. But in a way that was always beautifully crafted and earned. Author Andy Greenwald, in the Parts Unknown episode ‘Bourdain’s Impact’, sums up why food and travel storytelling like Bourdain’s works so perfectly: “There is always more to see. There is a large story and then there is a small story. And if you peek inside that small story, there are a thousand more stories. And his [Bourdain’s] willingness to let those stories be told, and find the right storytellers for each one of those, was incredibly helpful.”

Promote a pride of place with food

Anthony Bourdain’s travel programs were neither sentimental nor starry. Good travel content should always be in this vein, but especially when featuring food. Here was a former celebrity chef, turning the camera away from himself and towards people who have a sense of pride in their food and local culture. When done well, this sense of pride is then imbibed by visitors and with this comes respect for their hosts. In the words of Anthony Bourdain, in Parts Unknown: “I see a lot of poverty and cruelty...It angers me….yes, there’s a lot of scary ugly stuff. But there is much more, I still think. Beauty, kindness and humor, and people doing the best they can in often very difficult situations. It is a magnificent planet filled with fascinating and, more often than not, beautiful people.”

Photo by GLP Films

Food for thought

Andy Greenwald, again in the Parts Unknown episode ‘Bourdain’s Impact’, described Bourdain as “an important and gracious ambassador of curiosity.” These qualities are quintessential to creating exemplary food content. It’s a delicate line to tread and one that we are wary of on all our film shoots, and we like to think that we are also ambassadors of curiosity when filming. Whether you are interviewing a chef, farmer or fisherman, winemaker or street food vendor, demonstrating both an empathetic and inquisitive mindset puts the characters you want to feature in your film at ease. And when they are at ease, and they believe that you see the value in them, just as they clearly did with Bourdain, the stories start to flow. And in return, of course, so will travelers.

Take greenwashing off the menu

At a time when so many destinations are determined to be switched on to sustainability, many are guilty of greenwashing. By creating in-depth content about the food suppliers and gastronomic community in your destination, seeking out stories of local food producers, purveyors and chefs achieving positive change, you will steer clear of the greenwashing gang. You will also show that your destination and its tourism providers are really connecting with and creating sustainable partnerships with food businesses. Read more about this in our article ‘Sustainable tourism is not just about making jam.’

The best kept secrets

Travelers are becoming more and more keen to get off the beaten path, or to seek out the secret spots that only local people know about. Food content is made for this and Bourdain, of course, excels at discovering ‘Parts Unknown’. In the Asturias episode of the series, Bourdain takes us to a region little known to international visitors, but one that is food (and landscape) heaven. For example, Bourdain and his chef companion, José Andrés, introduce us to the people who go in search of the local specialty, percebes or gooseneck barnacles. As Andrés tells us, “You have to respect the sea. These guys put their lives at risk to bring the precious gooseneck barnacles to the tables. But it’s a flavor like no other. Sometimes I feel like ‘wow’, we don’t appreciate enough, when we eat these foods, how much goes into it.”

Food waste content isn’t garbage

In his film, Wasted, which focuses on the amount of waste in the food industry, Anthony Bourdain says that “as a young cook, I came up in an old school system - use everything, waste nothing.” In the US, for example, at least 40% of the food produced goes to waste. Food initiatives that aim to combat food waste are becoming more prolific now, and content highlighting their positive impacts not only educates your visitors but also directs them to food organizations doing the right thing. Examples include the Too Good to Go app aimed at combating food waste in many cities, or InStock in the Netherlands, which rescues unwanted produce and creates menus out of it in its Amsterdam restaurant. Don’t throw your waste stories in the trash but create good content out of it instead.

“Even when you have been travelling nearly non-stop for fifteen years, like me, there are places that snap you out of your comfortable worldview, take your assumptions and your prejudices and turn them upside down. They lead you to believe that, maybe, there is hope in the world.” Anthony Bourdain, 1956-2018