Fresh Ideas and Produce: BU’s First Farmers’ Market Thrives Despite Rain
By Ingrid Adamow | Sep 9th, 2011
The Boston skies opened up this Thursday, but when has a little rain ever stopped a farmer? Boston University made do despite the relentless precipitation and hosted the first fall farmers’ market indoors in the GSU Link. Vendors set up shop and brightened the gray day with a rainbow of fruits and veggies. The array of items for purchase went well beyond farm fare, however. Items for sale included bee byproducts in the form of honey, lip balms and lotions; beaded gemstone and Swarovski-detailed jewelry; Taza chocolates; and cookies, breads, and cakes.
So what is a farmers’ market, a rural staple, doing in the middle of an uber-urban college campus? BU’s sustainability coordinator, Sabrina Pashtan, offers a simple explanation, saying the market is a convenient way for students to obtain healthy, fresh foods and feel connected to the local community. For the BU majority who haven’t grown up on New England turf, the farmers’ market also functions as a way to familiarize them with northeastern seasonality– for example, red, ripe apples and bright autumnal squash.
Students flood the GSU in hopes of fresh veggies and baked goods! | Photo by Patricia Bruce
The BU Farmers’ Market is foremost a place to buy fresh produce and the like, but it’s also a place to learn about that fresh produce. Erin Willett, of the cleverly titled “Smaht Fahm” out of Lunenberg, MA, says she enjoys participating because of how receptive the BU community is. “The BU students are fantastic because they ‘get it’,” said Erin. The opportunity to bring a farmers market to the venue of a college campus helps create awareness of how broken the food system really is. Erin used the example of trying to explain to a suburban neighbor how detrimental the processed foods they are buying in bulk at WalMart really are. Her neighbor’s cost-consciousness and ignorance might keep them close-minded to the thought that their way of food shopping is far less than ideal. But here, at BU, eager students approach her “Smaht Fahm” booth with an open mind and a ready understanding of the “brokenness” of a food system that shuns sustainability and freshness in favor of bargains and bulk.
Bob Marshall of “Marshall’s Fenway Farm Stand” says college students should use the market as a healthier, better-for-you option. When students can buy smaller, fresher portions and keep them in dorm-sized fridges, convenience is no longer an excuse for unhealthy eating. Bob says other area schools like Northeastern University have even asked his stand to set up shop more than once a week, as students really take to the idea of good-for-you groceries on-the-go.
One of the vendors, Ward’s Berry Farm of Sharon, MA, offers an easy and convenient service for students passionate about local food. The farm’s “farmer’s choice boxes” are boxes filled with seasonal produce. The contents varies week-to-week. Students may either buy a season long share from the farm, committing themselves to one box of fresh fruits and veggies a week, or may purchase on a weekly basis. A list of the coming week’s box contents is posted on http://www.buboxes.netai.net/ each Saturday, and orders must be placed by the following Tuesday. The boxes are available for pick-up every Thursday at the GSU plaza, the usual (good weather provided) home of the farmers’ market.
With a fresh school year comes a fresh start, one that usually entails promises to be healthier, more involved, and perhaps even a little more green and environmentally aware. A weekly stop at the BU farmers’ market en route to class is a step in the right direction towards a more healthy and hip semester!
The BU Farmers’ Market will be held every Thursday from September 8 – October 27 in the GSU plaza. For more information about the market and its vendors, visit http://www.bu.edu/dining/about-us/sustainability/farmers-market/.
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