ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the impact of a food-based event on entrepreneurship development in rural areas. An Earth Market in the Turkish town of Şile attracts visitors from nearby regions and food lovers from Istanbul. The event is the result of a multi-stakeholder partnership established between the municipality and two local non-profit associations. We adapted the empowerment framework devised by Scheyvens as a tool for answering our research question. The empirical findings demonstrate that the event has empowered the farmers and producers psychologically, socially, and politically, though tourism businesses are empowered to a lesser extent in all dimensions. Thus, we propose a framework for supporting rural entrepreneurship through a planned event.
