There’s a 250 hectare park between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in Israel that aims to recreate some of the agricultural landscapes of the Old Testament, pairing living exhibits with the appropriate texts. Started 35 years ago, Neot Kedumim features plants, animals and agricultural processes — olive presses, threshing floors — dating back 2000 years and more.
That’s very interesting, I imagine, but I can’t help thinking that what the region really needs is a “Cradle of (western) Agriculture” Museum. Attractions like the Potato Park in Peru give tourists a different taste of history, often literally. And they can raise more general awareness of the importance of agricultural biodiversity. I know I’m dreaming, but it would be nice to see the countries of the Middle East settle their differences for long enough to build such a museum, even deliberately located in three or four different countries.
Agro-tourism in general seems to be becoming more popular; maybe we should compile a global list of places where people can see local culture and the foods it produces? Send us your suggestions.
By the way, I was alerted to Neot Kedumim by this article, but don’t bother going there. It seems to be a blatant rip-off of this much longer and more interesting piece in the Jerusalem Post.