On-Campus Farmers Market Connects Students to Local Vendors and the Community

Katherine Davis  |  March 2, 2025

Once a week during the fall and spring semesters, University of Georgia students can purchase fresh produce, flowers, honey and more without leaving campus.

Established in 2021, Farmers Market Friends is a student-run, on-campus farmers market. Their mission is to make local goods and fresh produce more accessible to students.

“It’s super easy and like, it’s in like a central area, so I think it’s really easy to access,” said Emily Arsenault, a University Georgia student and Farmers Market Friends customer.

Farmers Market Friends is usually set up outside the Tate Student Center from 12-3 p.m. on Wednesdays. At last week’s farmers market, on Feb. 26, the stand was busiest during class changes.

All the products that they sell are from local vendors, including UGArden and Bear Hug Honey Company. The produce that UGArden provides for sale rotates seasonally. Last week, students could purchase kale, turnips and sunchokes. Emily Arsenault bought some kale.

Clarissa Hane, the Farm to Campus intern for Sustainable UGA, hopes that the market encourages students to be part of the community more.

“I guess, college life, you get sort of used to the dining experience, like the dining halls, and maybe fast food on campus. So, we’re trying to kind of expose people to shopping locally,” said Hane, who is in charge of coordinating and operating the market. “It’s just a cool way to, I guess introduce the students to the community at large that they live in.”

R&R Secret Flowers provides the flowers that Farmers Market Friends sells. They also sell their flowers at the Athens Farmers Market, in addition to their storefront.

“I think it’s been helpful to raise awareness of our business in general,” said Rita O’Brien, the owner of R&R Secret Flowers. “We grow a lot of flowers, so it’s nice to have another outlet for our flowers, another audience.”

Currently, R&R Secret Flowers only has tulips in bulk for Farmers Market Friends to sell, but as the season progresses they will be able to provide a wider variety of flowers.

Hane is working on expanding the market beyond just food. They often have extra tables, so Hane invites student artists and other student organizations to use them. Last week, she invited W by L to sell their crochet pieces at one of the extra tables.

“Farmers markets don’t necessarily need to be all produce. We want to sell art. We want to sell people’s work, and we want to get more clubs involved as well, just to make students feel like they’re going to a school that’s a community,” Hane said.

If they don’t sell all of their produce on Wednesday, Farmers Market Friends donates the leftovers to Fresh Express, a student-led food pantry on-campus. This time, they donated extra turnips and sunchokes.