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Since its inception in 2004, Fresh From The Vines Sustainable Farm and Natural Bakery has welcomed visitors to the farm to satisfy their desires to learn about sustainable agriculture through observation and practice. Education has always been paramount to the mission of Fresh From The Vines, which promotes learning by offering tours, teaching hands-on skills, and encouraging dialogue. In 2010, it received distinction as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Fresh From The Vines operates at its current capacity, largely because of the work of students of the farm. Allegheny College students, who have undergone hands-on training, studied sustainable agriculture, and served as interns, contribute to the efficiency of production at the farm. Bonner students have helped to mobilize the volunteer groups and create a curriculum for educational programming, and an AmeriCorps*VISTA joined the team in an effort to learn the ways of the farm so that she could work with staff and interns to develop a structured curriculum for the education center.
As with all educational undertakings at Fresh From The Vines, the activities and subjects that students have addressed have served to promote the mission of the farm by increasing awareness and understanding the need for a sustainable, local food economy and offering hands-on educational programs about growing and eating nutritious food.
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