Every Thursday from now until the beginning of October, U students and faculty will be able to buy organic fruits, vegetables, locally-roasted coffee and locally-made gelato between classes from a farmers market on the U campus.
The U farmers market opened for the first time Thursday on the lawn, east of Pioneer Memorial Theatre.
U President Michael Young said he is excited about the new market, which he said is already garnering traffic even though it has only been recently announced.
“It’s quite successful so far,” Young said.
The farmers market consists of about 18 vendors spread out on the West Webster Lawn. The market will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Thursday until Oct. 2.
Jason Letz, a junior psychology major, said he usually buys the cheapest food he can, but the farmers market will help him buy healthier food for less.
“I try to buy some of the healthier things out there, but it’s the healthy foods that usually (are) the more expensive ones,” Letz said.
Debora Threedy, a U law professor, said she’s excited the farmers market is available on campus.
“I used to live downtown and could buy from the downtown farmers market a lot,” she said. “Now I live further south, so this is nice (that) the market is closer for me.”
The market vendors offer a variety of produce, ranging from peaches and plums to tomatoes and peppers.
“Everybody has a budget. You pay rent, you pay bills and you pay groceries,” said Colyn Kilmer, owner of the Heirloom Underground, one of the vendors. “I ask for what you can afford and that’s all I want. I don’t want market price, I want what you can honestly afford.”
Kilmer said that most people are able to negotiate a price, but she charges between $1 and $5 for people who get held up by it.
The market is sponsored by the WellU program of the Student Health Advisory Committee, the Office of Sustainability and Sustainable Environments and Ecological Design.
Harmeet Khalsa, co-manager of the market and a member of SEED, said the market is intended to encourage healthy eating for individuals who both work and learn at the U.
“We’re doing well,” she said. “We knew this was a high traffic area, but we didn’t expect this many people. Vendors have been coming to us consistently saying that they are doing well and intend on coming back.”
Khalsa plans on having classes offered during the market in the coming weeks.
“We’re hoping this success makes (the market) a yearly event with more and more vendors,” she said. “We’ve talk(ed) to people who seem interested in teaching how (to) raise bees at home, growing organic gardens and growing container gardens for those who live in apartments.”
Young said the market provides two major benefits to the U and the community.
“(The) first part is that these things are grown locally, which minimizes the cost of transporting these goods, and the other part is (that) eating fresh fruits and vegetables is healthy for you, so it’s a win-win situation for both the economy and the community’s health,” Young said.
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Anna KartashovaJillian Lofrese, a junior in pre-nursing, picks out tomatoes at the new farmers market near Pioneer Theatre on Thursday. The market will be on campus every Thursday through October.