As a poor college student, I hunt for bargains and freebies whenever I can. On March 11, I made another discovery.
Each second Tuesday of each month, the Farm Market offers free samples of ice cream, featuring different flavors each month. Each flavor is picked randomly. On this particular day, those flavors were regular peanut butter and peanut butter with cookie dough, which happens to be one of my favorite flavors.
Ag students at Fresno State make everything in the Farm Market. The market serves as an outlet for everything that the students produce.
The ice cream made at Fresno State is different from other ice creams in a few ways. First, the students add in more cream than most do. Also, just about everything that is put into the ice cream has been made naturally on the Fresno State campus. The ice cream takes 15 minutes to produce and 24 hours to freeze. After it has been frozen, it is put out for consumption.
“We try to put as much in as we can,â€Â said Cassandra Rudich, who is in charge of producing the ice cream.
The main purpose of doing these free events is to get more people into the Farm Market who normally don̢۪t come in, especially students.
“We usually have the same people who come in, so these free samples gets more students and others to come into the store and become aware of our ice cream,â€Â said Nancy Porcelli, another Ag student who works in the market.
So far, the event has been successful. Walking into the market, the large tub reserved for the free samples was almost completely empty except for the very bottom. Roughly thirty small samples covered the bottom of the tub. Also, during the interview, nearly 10 people came in to get a free sample.
The ice cream itself is very good. I was pretty surprised. I didn̢۪t know what to expect going in. It tasted as good as ice cream you would get at gourmet creameries. Both flavors were good.
The ice cream, as best I can describe it, has a golden look. You can really taste the peanuts. All of the ingredients can be tasted in the cream. It has a smooth texture and tastes very natural. It has just the right amount of sugar. The natural flavors aren̢۪t hidden by it, like some ice cream. The students allow the natural flavors to be prominent. The cookie dough also tasted very natural and fresh.
I have to admit that, at that moment, I was really happy that I am a journalist who gets to try things that I otherwise wouldn̢۪t have. This was the first time I̢۪ve been to the Farm Market, and I̢۪m sure that there are many students who are also unfamiliar with the market.
One thing’s for sure, after tasting this ice cream – the students who produce it are very good at what they do. Their ice cream tastes just as good, if not better, than professional ice cream. I suggest you try it out the next Tuesday it comes around.