Students grabbed freshly-picked, home-grown produce and local eats at the U’s farmers market on Thursday.
Vendors sat in shaded tents with tables and food carts displaying homemade jewelry and journals, tacos made with vegetables from the U’s campus garden, sweet honey, caramels and more — all locally grown and for sale.
Rachel Wootton, a senior in environmental geoscience and political science, bought raspberries, peaches and vegan tamales.
“[The market] is really awesome,” Wootton said. “I bought a few things at the end of last year [too].”
Jen Colby, the sustainability coordinator at the U’s Sustainability Resource Center, oversees the farmers market. She served on the committee that decided to start hosting the market back in 2007. The committee addressed the unique problems a campus farmers market can bring, such as parking and plaza access for vendors, as well as regulation policies.
New this year is the Double Your Dollars program. It allows any U student to purchase, for example, $10 worth in tokens costs $5. The program is funded by a $2.50 student tuition fee called the Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund.
For students who need to stay on campus for class after buying food at the market, there is now a “veggie valet” where students can drop off their produce and return later in the day to pick it up for free.
Katie Hunt, sustainability coordinator for the U’s Dining Services, hopes the farmers market’s accessibility will encourage students living on campus to opt for healthier food choices.
“You can think of our campus as a food desert and the farmers market as an oasis,” Hunt said. “[At the market] students can know that their meat and produce is organic or antibiotic free because they can meet the people who farmed it before cooking it.”
But Nicole Lee, a freshman in biology, said the market doesn’t help her eat healthier. Lee said that in her dorm in Gateway Heights, “there’s only one stove and oven and the microwaves don’t work,” which makes cooking fresh produce difficult, even if it’s accessible.
Patrick Andrews, a roaster at Blue Copper Coffee, a new vendor at the market and said the farmers market is an opportunity to expand his customer base.
“We only started [Blue Copper Coffee] eight months ago.
The farmers market has a different theme each week. This week’s theme was sustainability, featuring non-profits and campus departments that educated and encouraged students to live sustainably.
The market is held every Thursday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Upcoming themes include biking on Sept. 4, pets on Sept. 11 and chocolate on Oct. 9, the last day of the market.
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