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The trend of farm-to-table cuisine may be spreading, but it doesn't get more local than dining right in the farm house – one of the many attractions to a farm stay vacation.

Ethical traveller: Vacationing down on the farm

13 June 2012 | By Lori Robertson

Ethical travellers can also sleep easy knowing that their holiday choice is a responsible one, since the money spent on room and board directly benefits the local community.

Bunking in barns or in farmers' homes - long a widespread way to see the countryside in Europe - has become increasingly popular in the US in recent years. It coincides with a burst of farmers markets popping up on urban streets and a growing chorus of consumers asking where their food comes from. Farm stays are also mutually beneficial: city slickers can develop a connection with local residents and, perhaps, a culture much different than their own. And farmers earn extra income to help keep the harvests going.

Several websites (farmstayus.com, ruralbounty.com) can help plan a farmcation, where guests have the chance to be a farm hand for the day, feeding chickens, learning how to milk cows and picking crops out in the field. But some farms tell guests just to relax -- it is a vacation after all. No matter which farmcation you choose, those roosters will probably wake you up rather early.

Many states - including Pennsylvania, Maine and Vermont - have websites focused on rural rooms, ranging from luxury bed and breakfasts to real working farms. Learn how sap becomes maple syrup at a Vermont farm or stay in an 1800s log cabin in Pennsylvania. Farms promote local attractions and activities, such as fishing, hiking, horseback riding and even nearby golf courses.