Local, fresh and on-campus

College students across the nation are proving their palettes are broader than pepperoni pizza and cheap beer. Harvard, the University of Maine, North Carolina State University, and many other colleges have discovered that on-campus farmers markets are an easy way to involve students' emerging interest sustainability with an irresistible medley of fresh food, local products and people.

NC State's Campus Farmers Market opened more than a year ago, and it continues to grow in popularity each week. Usually, nine vendors report to the market each Wednesday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. When students first launched the market, it had just three vendors who participated.

Summer = Watermelon (Red & White for Life blog)

Students can pick up anything from staple fruits and vegetables to a variety of natural soaps and lip balms. The market provides on-campus and off-campus students a chance to eat fresh food. Most of the food is dorm friendly (meaning it doesn't have to be cooked in an oven). One my favorite market products comes from Yah's Best. I love their fresh pineapple salsa. It's sweeter than traditional salsa, but still goes great with all my favorite Mexican dishes. Last week I persevered the rain to try one of The Cookie People's triple chocolate cookies. Totally worth all the puddles I stepped in .

Nationally, small farms play a vital role in economic development. They are creating jobs and bringing money into their communities. Local farmers have goals that are not strictly financial. They closely examine their impact on the environment, workers and communities.

NCSU’s on-campus farmers market supports the 10 percent campaign, an effort to get North Carolinians to spend one-tenth of their food dollars locally. So far, more than 1,400 people have pledged the campaign and more than $600,000 have been spent locally by individuals, restaurants and businesses.