The Campus Goods

University farm market ready for productive summer

By IRENE RODRIGUEZ

What started out as a fruit stand in 1988 has grown into a market that now offers more than 150 different products, including ice cream, jam, milk, sausage, pizza, cheese, wine and plants. The following year, the Fresno State Farm Market had its own building and many customers visiting.

“For students, the ice cream is the biggest pull, without a doubt,” assistant manager Jordan Cordero said of the farm market, located at the corner of Barstow and Chestnut avenues. “We have more than 50 flavors of ice cream, and at least 30 available at all times.”

Although the number of students visiting the market is increasing, the majority of customers are not students.

“Most of our customers are elderly members of the community. They say their main purpose for coming here is to support the students and the university, but also because everything is so fresh,” manager Diane Downing said.

One of the most popular items at the farm market is the corn. During the summer, more than eight bins of corn, grown behind the farm market, are sold daily. Each bin contains about 400 ears of corn.

“The farm market has the best milk in town, but they have the best corn in the country,” said L.L. Snyder, of Clovis, a regular at the farm market for more than 15 years.

Lester Koga has been going to the farm market since he was a boy and now that he’s older, he still likes to buy products there.

“Everything is fresh and I think that it is pretty impressive that everything is grown by the students,” Koga said.

The agriculture department gives students hands-on experience and the products at the farm market are the result of their labor and projects.

“Everything here is made and produced for education,” Cordero said. “Ninety percent of the profits go back to the departments that bring their products to the farm market. The rest of the money is used for the workers’ salaries and other basic expenses.”

The workers at the farm market are preparing for a busy summer. It is during this time that more customers visit the shop, and when more products are available. The fresh meat counter is open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. On Fridays at 3 p.m., students set up the barbecue and sell tri-tip, ribs and chicken.

A Web site for the farm market is being developed and will soon be available for customers.

“We want the Web site to serve as a tool for consumers, mainly for people from out of town to let them know what we have at the farm market,” Cordero said. “We want to include biographies of the different departments so that the Web site can also serve as a promotional tool for the school of agriculture.”