The semester’s first Campus Farmers Market opened in the Brickyard Wednesday, with five new and four familiar local vendors selling foods ranging from fresh vegetables, meat and dairy, to peanut treats and natural soaps.
The market was started at the University to “provide access to local foods and education on why it is important to buy local foods,” Ariel Fugate, market manager and sophomore in fisheries and wildlife sciences, said.
All of the vendors are small, local companies. Their products might not be certified organic but both of the meat and dairy vendors, MAE Farms and S&L Farms, are Animal Welfare Approved and S&L Farms calls its practices “illegal organic.”
“We’ve been to the farms, we trust these farmers,” Fugate said.
The “Pasta Wench,” Andrea Morrell, makes sure to use only local ingredients in the fresh pasta she sells.
“We have to keep our money in our communities,” Morrell said.
The Campus Farmers Market has a different mission from the State Farmers Market on Centennial Boulevard in that its primary purpose is education.
Student volunteers run an education booth at the market where students can learn information about what local food is, what foods are in season locally, relevant community organizations and N.C. State classes about sustainable practices in farming and agriculture.
It’s important to have this farmers market here because “in the Brickyard it’s kind of shocking,” Fugate said.
It’s also more convenient. “A lot of people haven’t heard of the State Farmers Market,” Fugate said.
But when the market opened Wednesday, students immediately started checking it out.
“Everything is local, we really like that a lot,” Molly Storment, a first year graduate student who was buying salsa and peanut butter at the market with her husband Wednesday, said.
“It’s great to see it growing, great to have it on campus,” Caroline Barlow, a senior in international studies who visited the market last semester and who likes MAE Farms products, said.
“Last semester, we got their barbecue a lot. It’s good on sandwiches.” Last semester the market was run by the Student Government sustainability commision because it was the brainchild of Eric Ballard, a former member of the sustainability commission and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumnus who graduated in May 2009.
Now, however, the market is registered as a student club and run by volunteers. The $5 market fee the market charges the vendors to set up their booths every Wednesday goes directly to promoting the market through advertisements that can be seen around campus.
