DePaul’s Urban Garden had their second “farm stand” in the Ray Meyer fitness center Tuesday, Sept. 17. The farm stand continued to find success in the DePaul community, raising about $500 between the two events.
DePaul’s Urban Garden is managed and run by DePaul’s Urban Farming Organization (UFO). The UFO is a studentrun organization that has maintained the garden since its creation in 2012. The farm stand was a long-standing ambition of the student groups and the faculty members who helped in its foundation.
“We have been wanting to do something like a farm stand before we even had a farm,” said Barb Willard, a joint professor for the department of Environmental Sciences and College of Communications who has overseen the garden since its beginning. “By ‘we’ I mean the faculty members who were pushing for the garden.”
“The number one goal is awareness,” UFO President Abby Lundrigan said. “The farm stand is a really simple visual demonstration that where you live can be where you get your food from.”
DePaul’s Urban Garden is an example of the green revolution that is sprouting up all over Chicago. According to Chicago gardening group GreenNet’s website, there are over 600 community gardens across 50 of the city’s wards. The City of Chicago also lists that there are over 20 active farmers in the city, three of which are in the downtown area.
While some knew of the stand beforehand, many didn’t know it was going to be there. Nonetheless, the farm stand attracted a steady flow of students as they entered the fitness center, either prepared to buy some produce or pleasantly surprised at the opportunity.
“I just walked in and saw it,” Vanessa Lech, a DePaul student, said as she finished picking out a selection of fresh tomatoes. “I’m a vegan so the farm stand was a really nice surprise.”
Although the UFO had wanted to implement a farm stand before this year, Willard admitted that they held off due to concerns about obtaining a market permit from the city. After consulting with DePaul’s general council, the club was informed that they could set up a small stand without obtaining a permit.
With the help of Gale Stewart, the fitness center’s Director of Membership Marketing and Technology who provided the UFO with a space for the stand near the entrance of the gym, their dream of a farm stand became a reality.
“(The Farm Stand) was in line with Gale’s goal of teaching healthier nutrition,” Willard said. The farm stand has made a commitment to try to make their food as affordable as possible, selling most of their crops for less than $3.
This was determined so that they remain competitive with the prices of large grocery stores like Jewel-Osco.
“We wanted to make what we’re growing more accessible,” Lundrigan said. “This isn’t about making money.”
By doing so, the UFO hopes that they will be able to attract more members of the community to eat fresh, local, organic produce.
“It doesn’t get more local then this,” Willard said.
While the farm stand was successful overall – they sold out of almost every crop – Willard said that they would be making some changes based on lessons learned from the first farm stand experiences. The only crop to not sell out was Swiss chard, a large leafy green similar to spinach or kale.
While the UFO can’t change what they are already growing, they will be bringing less Swiss chard to the next stand and instead more produce for the fall. The two top-selling crops at the stand were the tomatoes and the kale. The UFO is hoping to sell their produce through spring and summer. The next farm stand is scheduled for the first week in October.