Students can already buy notebooks, pens and snacks on campus, but with a new project in the works by Associated Students, Inc., they may soon be able to buy some produce off of their grocery list as well.
“There is a lot of ‘red tape’ to break through, but we are going to make it happen,” Jonathon Bolin, ASI vice president, said.
To set up the farmers market, ASI must sort out issues concerning insurance, location and parking, among other things. The ultimate goal is to have the market up and running by spring 2013 at the latest, Bolin said.
Bolin said he has been in contact with the coordinator from two farmers markets held weekly in Downtown Long Beach, one at the Promenade and on Kilroy road.
“I’ve been to both of those, and they are packed with people, so I mean, if we did one at Cal State Long Beach, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be packed as well,” Bolin said.
Students said they are interested in the idea and excited about attending a farmers market on campus.
“I think it would be really positive,” Dalila Ruiz, a junior social work major, said. “I know a lot of people who bring their own lunch or buy from fast food restaurants on campus, so having fresh fruit and those things available would be good.”
Bolin said a farmers market on campus would bring in community involvement, which is something CSULB always strives for.
ASI is still discussing the best day and location for the event. According to Bolin and ASI President John Haberstroh, some potential locations for the market include the lower campus walkway, the upper campus quad or a parking lot.
However, the ASI executives said that holding the market in a parking lot could present problems. They said that because a large portion of students commute to CSULB, creating a necessity for parking throughout the week, ASI would have to plan the farmers market for a Saturday. Haberstroh and Bolin said this would be less than ideal.
“I don’t think it would be as successful on a weekend,” Evan Niakamal, a junior sociology major, said. “I’m a commuter myself so it’s debatable whether I would show up … if it were something on a Tuesday or Wednesday, then I would definitely check it out.”
Bolin said he wants the market to be more for students than anything else, but that the Long Beach “community will be invited and encouraged to participate.”