Local companies in Athens generally enjoy the business Ohio University students bring, and though a lot of students live in dorms, the Athens Farmers Market isn’t an exception.
Since the Saturday before OU’s Fall Semester started, the market has seen an increase in business because of students hitting the bricks in Athens after spending their summer out of town.
Even though it’s mostly the students living off campus who venture there, underclassmen do show up from time to time, market officials said.
“Undergrads have small fridges so they cannot store a lot of food,” market treasurer Kip Parker said. “When (their) parents visit, the market is busier.”
Although freshman and sophomores may still be sleeping during the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. time slot of the Saturday market, a surprising amount of juniors, seniors and grad students are up and at ‘em.
Sarah Acomb, an OU senior who studies plant biology and lives off campus, attends the market every week and never misses a compost exchange.
“I grew up in a garden so the market is familiar; it feels like home,” Acomb said.
Natalie Hulla, an OU graduate student studying fine arts, drives from Rivers Edge apartment complex near South Green to the market twice a month and said she feels better about the food available at the market.
“Buying food locally is smarter, better for you and it’s important to support the local economy,” Hulla said.
That puts her ahead of most of her peers, said Ray Leard, chief composter at the Compost Exchange, a compost facility in Athens that has a booth at the market. “Most students don’t know we’re here or the benefits and economics of the market.”
Visitors coming to the market can bring compostable food waste such as banana peels and strawberry heads and Compost Exchange will take them to be composted.
Although the produce might change week-to-week, the market is busy up through November, with buyers looking for popular market items like lettuce, spinach, carrots, tomatoes and corn.
“A lot of times the market has better prices, better quality food, and free samples, “said Kacee Babinger, an OU senior who has driven to the market from The Summit at Coates Run for the past two Saturdays.
Students can turn food stamps into tokens to spend at the market.
Around three-fourths of the vendors at the market accept these tokens, Parker said, depending on what type of products their stand offers. At the end of the month, the farmers turn these tokens in for cash.
Saturday’s Farmers Markets draw in a crowd of over 2,500 people, Parker said, adding that Wednesday’s market can have up to 1,000 people show up.
The market, located at University Mall on E. State Street, is open Saturdays year-round and Wednesdays in April through December.
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