Baylor’s Free Farmers Market Celebrates 10th Anniversary

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In fall 2016, a group of Baylor University students, Educational Leadership Professor Nathan Alleman, Ph.D., and Waco Pastor Rev. Andrade Jr. set up a few pop-up tents on campus and distributed free fresh produce to hundreds of students lined up that day in the rain.

Fast forward 10 years later, the Paul L. Foster Student Success Center and The Store are celebrating the Free Farmers Market’s milestone anniversary from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, on the Fountain Mall Lawn. Each fall and spring semester, all Baylor students have free access to fresh fruits and vegetables with their Baylor ID. Local vendors, activities and wellness resources will be featured at the market, including Lily's Snack Shop, a class for how to make the most of fresh produce, led by Campus Dietician, Lily Norcross.

Over the last decade, the Free Farmers Market has grown and established partnerships with many local and Texas vendors, including The Central Texas Food Bank, FreshPoint and Mr Greens Produce, to source fresh produce from Waco and other nearby cities. University organizations like the Baylor Community Gardens and Peer Nutrition Advisement also contribute, involving student volunteers and providing educational insight into food insecurity efforts. 

Each fall and spring semester, The Store hosts the Free Farmers Market, which provides students with immediate access to nutritious food but also raises awareness of food insecurity among college students. The Store and its wraparound services ensure that current students’ basic needs are met and no bear goes hungry.

"Our No. 1 goal for the Free Farmers Market is to bring awareness to The Store,” said Tre Baldwin, assistant director of basic needs at Baylor. “What we want to do is to let students know that we’re a resource just like tutoring, just like the writing center, just like all these other things. We’re just a resource on campus that students can use. Maybe it's for a quick snack, or maybe it's for a meal. We just want to let students know that we’re here.”

The Free Farmers Market  is multifaceted, encouraging students to use The Store's resources – like The Fridge that provides free snacks and ready-to-eat food items and The Pantry that offers free groceries and household supplies – and encouraging other students to join the cause by donating unused meal swipes to the Bear Swipe Share program.

Many students have joined the cause, whether through volunteering or founding new resource programs of their own, like The Store's Graduation Regalia Program. Baldwin said he is seeing groups develop and form among students who are more community focused, helping assure students that The Store operates like a family, where every bear can eat.

The Store is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the first floor of Foster Success Center in the Sid Richardson Building.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.