3 PillarZ Farm

3 PillarZ Farm (3PF) is a non-profit serving the Corry area and surrounding communities through a 3-pronged, intersectional mission: 1) provide agricultural education, 2) enhance local food security and economic development, and 3) offer nature-based programs for mental health and overall well-being in a farm setting. 3PF was started in 2022 to provide farm-based solutions to address multiple issues affecting NWPA—the loss of family farms, the disconnect between communities and their food sources, and the disconnect between people and nature.

Issue 1 - Loss of Family Farms: With family farms disappearing, the average age of a farmer is 58 years old; only 9% are under the age of 35 (USDA, 2022 statistics). Since 2012, NWPA has lost over 25% of its farms in Erie, Crawford, and Warren Counties.

3PF Solutions: We offer a farm incubator that allows new farmers to try growing crops or raising livestock with minimal financial risk. We offer access to land, farm equipment, and barns to allow new farmers to hone their skills and scale their production. We partner with Penn State University Extension professionals, the Rodale Institute for Organic Regenerative Agriculture, and Wilson Land and Cattle Company to provide advanced education and consultation. Our second annual regenerative agriculture field day with internationally known expert, Russ Wilson, is scheduled for late August.

3PF is serving our farming community, including veteran farmers, by telling their stories and broadening the market base for fair trade, so farmers can do what they do best and receive a fair price for their locally grown food and fiber. Your donations will support our work in curating the best NWPA has to offer, promoting participating farmers/makers, managing 3PF's online, direct-to-consumer market, and fulfilling customer orders.

Through our networking efforts, we've built relationships with local organizations and farmers to establish the foundation for a food hub to prevent local food waste. We aspire to developing a shared kitchen on the farm to help overcome financial and regulatory barriers for food entrepreneurs in the region to develop and sell their value-added products. 

Issue 2 – Disconnect from local food sources: While the 2020 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of our food system, the fact is that most kids do not know where their food comes from, how it's grown or raised, and the science behind it.

3PF Solutions: To strengthen local food security and create an agricultural workforce pipeline with local school systems, 3PF is collaborating with Intag to secure grant funding for educational indoor growing systems and nutrient recycling technology. Indoor growing systems combined with innovative mindsets can yield year-round production of fresh local produce. Nutrient recycling technology has promise to produce natural fertilizer for crop production. Your donations can help support matching funds for state and federal grants to develop this farm-based infrastructure in NWPA!

To reconnect young people with farming and agriculture, we partner with local education organizations for day camps (STEM education), field trips, and on-farm, longer-term projects. After three years of hosting an annual Farm Fest event, we've transitioned to focused educational workshops for our varying audiences.

• In April, we hosted Mercyhurst University biology students to learn about regenerative agriculture with Russ Wilson and Dan Stroup. The students collected soil samples from the farm and conducted laboratory analysis of the bacterial diversity of each site. We could then see which soil had better diversity which equals better nutrient value for forage and crops growing in those fields.
• In June, we welcomed the 21st Century Girls STEM Camp to the farm for our fourth year. The students conducted water quality studies and participated in plant identification activities to analyze naturally growing forage.
• In late July, we’ll welcome Girl Scouts for fun on the farm, food exploration, and service-learning projects.

Issue 3 – Disconnect from nature: Electronic devices are now a normal part of how we function. The lack of authentic interaction with each other and with nature is a contributing factor to behavioral problems that can be challenging at home, school, work, etc. Lack of physical activity also contributes to health issues like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc.

3PF Solutions: We offer authentic experiences on the farm tailored to the needs of our community. From curated farm-to-table dinners overlooking Pine Valley, to plein air art retreats with locally renowned artists, to “farm-a-lympics” for city kids, to hunting clubs training their retrievers, we can pretty much say we’ve “hosted it all!”

Helping us grow will allow us to accelerate all these promising efforts in collaboration with community partners. We welcome the opportunity to be creative and innovative to meet the needs of the region!