Farmers markets are scarce around campuses in the fall season. Most students would have to drive off campus to find fresh produce. This can create issues with the students schedule and discourage them to buy locally if a fast food restaurant is more convenient for them. By creating a campus wide farmers market we can assure students will always have the opportunity to buy fresh produce at their convenience. UAB’s undergraduate student government association (USGA) held a small farmers market in September, but they have yet to hold another. USGA’s market consisted of tea and vegetable vendors including our dining hall, The Commons. At this market students were able to learn how to make some basic meals using the produce from the market. With
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One of these benefits for consumers is produce being sold at lower prices for equal or even greater quality than similar produce sold at supermarkets. This is always helpful for college students who are trying to budget their funds while also giving back to their community and eating healthy. Another example of consumer benefits is that students can ask farmers in depth about where and how their produce is raised and cultivated. The farmers are then able to specify whether or not it was farm or cage raised. Benefits for producers include a higher pay cut. Cutting out a “middleman” helps farmers bring home about three times more profit than the profit earned when sold to supermarkets. Decrease in travel costs also cuts down on global environmental pollution as well as the “assembly and distribution” costs. Another benefit to the community surrounding the market is creating jobs, raising incomes, and supporting our farmers. Luke Richner, a senior from Duke University, said, “I strongly believe in promoting farmers’ markets, as they not only help in providing healthy food options, but also help to stimulate consumer spending.” Consumers are willing to spend more money on produce when they know it is benefiting local famers. Supporting our local community means consumers are able to know without a doubt that their produce was grown in the U.S. and was not produced by low paid foreign workers in subpar …show more content…
UAB provides some fast food restaurants on campus such as Panera, Full Moon, Mein Bowl, and The Den by Denny’s. UAB also provides an on-campus dining location called The Commons, but these are only convenient if students have a meal plan. If an upperclassmen wants to eat on campus and does not have a meal plan, each meal they intake averages about ten dollars. UAB faculty and staff are not given the option to pay for a meal plan, so every meal they order is paid for out of their own pockets. If a student or professor ordered a meal from one of these locations, they would spend an average of 50-70 dollars a week. Having a farmer’s market a couple of days a week can help cut the amount of money spent on campus dining. A random sampling of professors said that they usually dine in on-campus versus bringing a prepared meal from home every day. Most of the professors said they would use the farmers market as a replacement for the fast food restaurants on
One of these benefits for consumers is produce being sold at lower prices for equal or even greater quality than similar produce sold at supermarkets. This is always helpful for college students who are trying to budget their funds while also giving back to their community and eating healthy. Another example of consumer benefits is that students can ask farmers in depth about where and how their produce is raised and cultivated. The farmers are then able to specify whether or not it was farm or cage raised. Benefits for producers include a higher pay cut. Cutting out a “middleman” helps farmers bring home about three times more profit than the profit earned when sold to supermarkets. Decrease in travel costs also cuts down on global environmental pollution as well as the “assembly and distribution” costs. Another benefit to the community surrounding the market is creating jobs, raising incomes, and supporting our farmers. Luke Richner, a senior from Duke University, said, “I strongly believe in promoting farmers’ markets, as they not only help in providing healthy food options, but also help to stimulate consumer spending.” Consumers are willing to spend more money on produce when they know it is benefiting local famers. Supporting our local community means consumers are able to know without a doubt that their produce was grown in the U.S. and was not produced by low paid foreign workers in subpar …show more content…
UAB provides some fast food restaurants on campus such as Panera, Full Moon, Mein Bowl, and The Den by Denny’s. UAB also provides an on-campus dining location called The Commons, but these are only convenient if students have a meal plan. If an upperclassmen wants to eat on campus and does not have a meal plan, each meal they intake averages about ten dollars. UAB faculty and staff are not given the option to pay for a meal plan, so every meal they order is paid for out of their own pockets. If a student or professor ordered a meal from one of these locations, they would spend an average of 50-70 dollars a week. Having a farmer’s market a couple of days a week can help cut the amount of money spent on campus dining. A random sampling of professors said that they usually dine in on-campus versus bringing a prepared meal from home every day. Most of the professors said they would use the farmers market as a replacement for the fast food restaurants on