The Inter-Residence Hall Association hosted its second annual on-campus farmers market on the Reitz Union Colonnade on Thursday.
About 10 vendors from around Alachua County sold pastries, flowers, organic jams and honey, giving students a taste of what local vendors have to offer.
“I tell people, when it comes to the fruit, if I didn’t raise it, I know who did, so I know it’s organic,” said Pat McCarthy, creator of Nana Pat’s Goodies, which sells organic jams and mustard.
IRHA partnered with Gator Dining Services and the UF Office of Sustainability to recruit vendors to the UF market from other farmers markets around the area, including the one held every Wednesday on Bo Diddley Community Plaza in downtown Gainesville.
“It was a great idea to have the market at the student union because you have so many students who don’t have cars who don’t have access to the market downtown or who don’t even know about it,” said Sarah Strassler, a 20-year-old UF chemistry junior.
Several of the vendors commented on how having a farmers market on campus allowed them to reach out to a new population of potential customers.
“I knew this would be a way for me to reach out to the student population and let people know about my products,” McCarthy said.
With an emphasis on sustainability and healthy eating, many of the vendors had organic types of locally grown vegetables, jams and baked breads.
Referencing her homemade mustard, McCarthy said, “I use mustards seeds that I soak in local beer, local wine. I use local honey and syrup from my own fruit to flavor it.”
