From The Green Connoisseur

by Alice Julier, September 2010

"Crete’s Culinary Sanctuaries is a unique, successful, and beautiful approach to sustainable tourism." http://thegreenconnoisseur.com/c/travel/eco_destinations/crete's_culinary_sanctuaries.html

“Hotels don’t make a place special. The residents and natural beauty do,” says Nikki Rose, founder of Crete’s Culinary Sanctuaries, an innovative program of sustainable agro-tourism that works to preserve the growing traditions, foods, and cultural practices of this wonderful Greek island. The pleasures of travel are deepened when tourists act responsibly as visitors to ecologically fragile landscapes. But while the overdevelopment of many popular travel destinations has created a host of eco-alternatives, true sustainability is only achieved when locals are provided with the means to preserve and enhance their cultures, as well as their natural resources. For many destinations, the only sound choice truly supports the land, it’s products, and the local economy. An expert in the field, chef and certified educator Rose has been working worldwide towards this goal since 1998.