Why Support Tufts Farmer’s Market?

Tufts Weekly On-Campus Farmer’s Market may have already enticed you with its fresh local fruits and veggies and fresh-made baked goods but if you haven’t made time to stop by yet, here are some more great reasons to make the trip: Your purchases at Tufts Farmer’s Market support the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project and the United Teen Equality Center (UTEC), two wonderful local organizations that strengthen the health of our community.  After picking up a bag of mixed greens with bright, edible flowers, four husks of corn to bring my suite-mates for dinner, and two delicious fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies to share with my friends, I asked Derek Mitchell, Founder of UTEC’s Fresh Roots Program to tell me more about the market. Here is what he said:

“What the farmer’s market represents is support for local food. There’s a partnership between UTEC, which is a youth organization based in Lowell, and New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, which is an affiliate of Tufts University but also based in Lowell. The mission of UTEC is to provide opportunities for high-risk youth. The mission for New Entry is to provide opportunities for emerging farmers. UTEC specifically does everything from educational programing to employment programing and also does intensive case management. The young people who are represented here are involved with our employment programming and they have helped bake some of the baked goods, they’ve helped harvest some of the food, but they’ve also helped put this together and they’re learning all kinds of employment skills in the process. The vegetables are sourced from all different farmers who have worked in collaboration with New Entry. New Entry has trained a number of farmers on how to grow in this climate, how to sell in these markets and also provided opportunities for farmland. Buying these vegetables is about supporting the farmers who are growing this food and the teens who are selling it.  It’s a partnership between the two organizations [UTEC and NESFP] and it is also a commitment that Tufts has made supporting local food but also local organizations that are doing community-based work, especially related to food.”
– Derek Mitchell, Founder of the Fresh Roots Program, Director of Employment Programming

Dinner Made Using Several Farmer's Market Ingredients, including my mixed green salad that contained colorful, edible flowers!