Tour Host Pick of the Month

Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute

by Sheri Leigh

Located on over 100 acres in the Northwest corner of St Croix, USVI, the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute was founded in 2003 as a way to promote agroecology: an innovative field of agriculture that enjoins productivity with resource conservation, using ecological and indigenous management models to create sustainable life systems.

What this means to the traveler looking for a different kind of island get-away, is that they can learn about conservation and organic farming, while enjoying the splendid Caribbean climate. VISIF combines experiential learning, outdoor lectures, field laboratories and encourages personal growth for all it's students.

Programs include Workshops and Short Courses, Intern and Apprenticeships as well as Accredited Sustainable Study Abroad Programs through the University of Georgia. Special events include; Earthskills, Farm Olympics, and a Timber Framing workshop.

All of this on St. Croix, the largest of the four USVI, a subtropical island surrounded entirely by the Caribbean Sea and the easternmost point of the United States. Home to over 5,000 years of human history and today a unique blending of the seven different countries that have controlled it since first being "discovered" by Columbus in 1493.

Teaching sound agricultural practices as well as giving back to the community and environment, the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute is a great example of what one persons dreams, opened up for the world to visit can contribute to responsible travel.