On the heels of best-selling books like "The Omnivore's Dilemma," the interest in really understanding where food comes from has never been stronger. Unfortunately, the farmers' market is as close as many of us get to our meat, produce, and dairy products. In an effort to create a truly hands-on gastronomic experience, these four trips go beyond the standard fare. They take travelers from field, ocean, and farm to table, inviting them to shuck oysters with fishermen, forage for mushrooms, and follow ingredients all the way from their natural state to the plate.

Grape Job
If you're dreaming of running a small vineyard but aren't sure you have what it takes, sign up for Camp Schramsberg. Twice a year, during the fall harvest and again during the spring blending season, Schramsberg Vineyards in Calistoga, California, runs a three-day, hands-on wine-making experience. The camp kicks off with a welcome dinner in a candlelit cave or in the vineyard. Don't drink too much, though. The next morning, you'll get right to work pruning vines during the spring and harvesting chardonnay and pinot noir grapes in the fall. The next step is assemblage (the blending of sparkling wine) and riddling (removing sediment from bottles). At the fall camp, you'll also create the dosage, a mix of sugar and wine that controls the sweetness, for your own bottle of bubbly to take home.

Don't miss
Chef-enologist Holly Peterson holds food-pairing seminars at the nearby Napa outpost of the Culinary Institute of America.

Details
800-877-3623, schramsberg.com

Say Cheese
The factory farming antithesis, Shelburne Farms is committed to conservation and resource preservation. Located on 1,400 rolling acres near Lake Champlain, it captures the essence of rural Vermont -- and crafts some of the state's tastiest cheeses. Each May, it hosts the three-day Pasture to Palate program. After expert-led tastings of dozens of local artisanal cheeses, you'll make your own wheel from start to finish. Cheese master Jaime Yturriondobeitia guides a group of 12 through the entire hands-on process, including taking Shelburne's grass-fed Brown Swiss cows' milk from the dairy to the cheesemaking room, transforming milk into curds, and pack��ing it into hoops for aging.

Don't miss
Once the cheese has aged for six months, Shelburne sends each apprentice a block to enjoy at home.

Details
802-985-8686, shelburnefarms.org

Mushrooms 101
Chefs tend to speak of certain mushrooms (chanterelle, hedgehog, and porcini among them) with a kind of hushed reverence. Maybe it's because they possess such deep, complex flavors -- or maybe it's because they're so hard to find. One skilled mushroom hunter is Brother Michael, a Benedictine monk who gathers fungi on Canada's Vancouver Island. Unlike many, he's willing to take others to his sacred sites.

Teaming up with the Aerie, an ecofriendly resort on the coast of British Columbia, Brother Michael spends several Saturdays in September and October leading small groups of budding mycologists deep into the forests surrounding the hotel. Come prepared with waterproof boots: During the expedition you'll scour fallen logs, mossy hillsides, and moist bogs while Brother Michael explains how to harvest mush��rooms sustainably.

Don't miss
After returning from the hunt, watch Aerie chef Castro Boateng create a three-course lunch with the collected mushrooms and other seasonal and local ingredients.

Details
800-518-1933, aerie.bc.ca

Mixed Plate
For those looking for a more varied farm-to-table experience, Toronto-based Horizon & Co. offers an eight-day Normandy Epicurean Journey. The tour highlights many different French delicacies, starting in the town of St. Paterne and winding its way through the regions of Normandy, Brittany, and the Loire Valley.

The experience can be as hands-on as you want. In Cancale, a fishing village known as the oyster capital of Brittany, shuck oysters plucked straight from the sea. See firsthand the cheese- making process at a dairy farm in Camembert. Also on tap: sampling calvados, a dry apple brandy, right in the orchard where the apples grow, and participating in a cooking demonstration from a chef of a Michelin-starred restaurant. You can also choose to just sit back and enjoy the ride, sampling food and wine with a newfound knowledge of where all that incredible French cuisine originates.

Don't miss
Learn how to make fouace, a regional version of focaccia, from a local baker.

Details
800-387-2977, horizon-co.com

Text by Christie Matheson, author of "Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style"