Last Thursday afternoon, crowds of jostling students gathered outside the Campus Center as the scent of roasting tofu and shrimp wafted through the air.
This was all part of the farmers’ market that was organized by five students as the final project for the 15-person student-run forum in Earth & Environmental Sciences, “From Local to Global: Land and Water Use In Agriculture.”
The student organizers, Olivia Dooley ’09, Ellie Wiener ’09, Martha Tenney ’09, Andrea Lipsky-Karasz ’08, and Tamar Marino ’07, said that they chose to host the market as their final project because it would allow them to educate the community on local agriculture.
“We wanted to do the market because we wanted students to become aware of the local farms and the concept of locally-produced agriculture,” Wiener said. “We hoped they would learn more about the farms around campus.”
Dooley agreed, adding that the market is a way to unite various members of the community.
“Farmers’ markets also bring people together because everyone is there for the same love of food and fresh produce,” Dooley said.
While the idea of hosting a farmers’ market on campus is not new, the degree of success that Thursday’s market experienced was an exception. Last year, as part of the same student-run forum, students only succeeded in bringing two vendors to campus.
This year, there were nine vendors present on campus for the farmers’ market, selling products from cheese to beeswax candles.
Student organizers began preparing for the market before spring break. The students visited a local farmers’ market where they succeeded in convincing six of the vendors there to sell at Thursday’s market. The other three vendors present at the campus market were solicited via e-mail and internet surfing.
In addition to the typical fruit and vegetable vendors, the River Tavern Restaurant also participated, selling prepared foods from its diverse menu.
The student organizers said that they were initially worried that vendors would not be successful because students would either be uninterested in buying the products or unwilling to spend their cash, as opposed to points.
“We were glad to have a wide variety of vendors because that made our offerings more varied,” Lipsky-Karasz said. “The meat vendor was a great alternative for people who normally wouldn’t buy stuff at a farmers’ market. What we wanted to do was to make our market inclusive and appeal to a lot of people.”
The students decided to advertise widely so as to reach out beyond the student community.
“Not only were the students being invited to come, but so too were the faculty and local Middletowners,” Dooley said. “We advertised in the Middletown newspaper, on the radio, made flyers which we posted around town, and we stuffed them in faculty mailboxes. We knew we had to focus on the people who would definitely have money on them.”
The group commented that the patrons of the market varied widely on Thursday, including, for instance, the campus custodial staff.
In response to both the wide turnout of the event and the marketing success of the vendors, the student organizers plan to hold the event again next spring and hope to hold one in the fall as well when different vegetables and fruits are in season. Wiener also said that they plan on collaborating with the Middletown Farmers’ Market so that at least once a semester, all of the vendors at the larger market will come to campus.
One of the vendors, Andrea Meriano of Meriano’s Bake Shoppe, who was selling pastries and baked goods, said that she would be more than willing to sell on campus next year, as business that afternoon had been very successful.
“They cleaned me out,” Meriano said. “I had no idea that everything would be gone by 1:30 p.m., even the cannolis were gone! The amazing thing is that I brought many more pastries with me today than I normally do to farmers’ markets.”
Pauline Lord of White Gate Farm, who sold organic spinach, lettuce, chard, bok choy, beet greens, and herbs, participated despite the fact that she normally does not sell at farmers’ markets.
“Ellie had to beg me repeatedly to sell here, but I’ve done remarkably well,” Lord said. “I haven’t counted the money yet, but all of my bok choy is gone, and I brought two huge boxes of it with me.”
Vendors Dot and Dick Wingate of Studio Farm, who sold organic lettuce, basil, flowers, jams, and chutneys, were one of the two vendors that had attended the campus market last year as well as this year.
“We were so impressed by the young women who organized the event last year that we made a promise to do it again this year,” Dot Wingate said. “And we’ve done so well this year that there is no doubt that we will attend those in the future.”
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