Uniting Appalachia’s New Image of Local Use and Beauty with its Dark Extractive Past

When the term Appalachia is heard, what do you think about? Do you imagine a deformed mentally deranged homicidal coal miner or a place of scenic beauty and food experiences? The image of Appalachia has seen its share of marginalization. This marginalization of the image of Appalachia is one way to limit public awareness and action to the environmental degradation occurring within the region. In recent years, tourism campaigns such as “Bon Appetit Appalachia,” “Civil War,” and “Driving Tours” have spotlighted Appalachia’s local food scene, historical connections, and scenic beauty. This paper explores the contributions of the above tourism campaigns (among others) to explain the image renewal and development of Appalachia. During this research a path away from isolation and extraction is presented. Leading toward a path of development that embraces local experiences. This is shown through analyzing the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Performance and Accountability Reports (PAR) (formally ARC Annual Reports) from 1966 through 2014. Development patterns within the region are highlighted, addressing the shift from structural and educational gap improvements (outside capital investments), to the interconnection of local activities (sustainable development). The above tourism campaigns are embraced and documented by the ARC. They serve as the gateway to create a new Appalachia that is connected to its historical roots, supporting the natural beauty of the region, and most importantly on the leading edge of local production and consumption. This connection, is the first step to eliminating the image of an Appalachia that is structural and educationally deficient