UMD Farmers Market Part of Nationwide Trend

The idea of having farmers markets on university campuses is a relatively new one, and it changes the landscape of campus dining.

                 Every Wednesday in spring, summer and fall, vendors descend on University of Maryland, College Park campus, the University’s Green Tidings food truck rolls in, and the Farmers Market at Maryland comes to life under tents outside the Cole Fieldhouse.

                “When I started as an undergraduate, the campus food options were McDonald’s, the food co-op, a campus-run pizza shop and a Boar’s Head sandwich shop truck they rolled in,” said Brian Real, who graduated from College Park with his bachelor’s degree in 2004 and is now working toward a doctorate in the university’s information science program. “This is a huge improvement.”

With 12 regular vendors plus the food truck, the market pulls a crowd even in summer, when fewer students and faculty are on campus.

The venture came about thanks to a “joint effort” between campus recreation, sustainability, health and dining departments, said Meghan Cohen, the coordinator for the Center for Health and Wellbeing and a member of the farmers market committee.

“It gives access to local food on campus that didn’t exist before,” said Robert Schubert, the farmers market manager. “We followed our own model, [but] there are other universities that have markets.”

                In fact, the College Park campus is one of 158 educational institutions in the U.S. that hosts a farmers market, as calculated by the Agriculture Department, part of a growing trend that provides students with access to local food and fresh produce.

With a spacious layout and concentrated population, a college campus is a logical place for a farmers market and although Cohen said the market welcomes many patrons from off campus, students seem to have embraced the notion.

“Between 60 and 70 percent” of customers are students, said Angela Winter, who owns and runs Sweet Teensy, a boutique bakery that draws hordes with its spread of cookies and brownies.

And student taste can influence vendors. Sam Girardot of Upper Crust Bakery said they increase production of certain items during the school year, when more students frequent the market. Most wanted from the bakery? Gelato and individual loaves of cheese bread.

But students come for the produce, too. Eric Kuo, a graduate student, said he stops by every week for fruits and vegetables.

                “I think it’s a great thing to have,” said Kuo, whose undergraduate school didn’t have a market. “It makes it more likely that I’ll go to a farmers market, because it’s so convenient.”

                Sarah Cantor, who received a doctorate in art history in May, also said the market made shopping for staples simple.

                 “It’s so much easier having this here,” she said. “You can pick up your groceries for the next few days.”

                The farmers market is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Wednesday from May to November.