culture@dailylobo.com
@HayleeMontoya
Ripe red tomatoes, freshly baked tarts and bread with honey straight from the hive. A handful of vendors will offer up these fresh goods and more for the next four Wednesdays just outside Johnson Center.
The Lobo Growers Market, coordinated by Ian Kerstetter, is the product of a student Sustainability Studies project that began in 2007.
The volunteer vendors are not charged for table space and come out every fall to sell local foods and goods, Kerstetter said.
“Part of our solution in sustainability is supporting local business and supporting local food,” Kerstetter said.
Among some of the vendors is Aude Laau, who owns Le French Paris Bakery, a small shop near Eubank and Constitution.
Laau said her customers tend to love her breads and pastries because of their freshness. Laau’s newest creation will be a green chile tart.
“It’s sweet and spicy. It’s French, but I enjoy mixing it with New Mexican culture,” Laau said.
Laau said her goods are special because she does not use preservatives. Customers are often surprised to learn that her baked goods are also vegan, she said.
Vendor Jay Wheeler, who owns South Valley Soap, LLC, makes all his soaps at home. Wheeler’s most used active ingredients are coconut, olive and soy oil.
“I get in my kitchen and go a little crazy,” Wheeler said.
The two most popular soaps are the lavender and horchata, Wheeler said. He also said people from outside New Mexico always love the red and green chile soaps because they are so different.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
For Brandy Montaño from Los Jardines, who’s one of the newest vendors at the market, the best part about promoting the fresh food is getting college students to eat healthy.
“It’s a good market and I also think that people want to eat healthy when given the choice to,” said Montaño.
Selling small and affordable bags of veggies to students is also something that Los Jardines likes to do, she said.
UNM student Ben Yackley said he usually goes to the market for honey, but also for locally grown vegetables.
“Local honey is great stuff. That’s worth the extra expense.” he said.
UNM health student Virginia Chitwood said having access to low-priced healthy food is important because restricted budgets can make it difficult to eat well.
“People don’t always have the ability to grow stuff in their gardens and feed themselves in a healthy way, so it’s really wonderful,” she said. “On college campuses, the markets are very accessible for a lot of different populations. You have the college kids who may not always try to eat healthy and then you have families that are in the area.”
Chitwood has yet to attend a Lobo Growers Market but she does attend the Corrales Growers Market when she finds time. Chitwood said she plans to attend the next Lobo Growers Market.
“I like to go and see what they have. Supporting the local farmers is awesome and the food is so much better,” Chitwood said.
For Kerstetter, the thing that makes the market successful is the face-to-face connections that people make while they are there.
“It isn’t just gathering up a few vendors, it is networking and creating personal relationships with these people,” Kerstetter said.
The Lobo Growers Market
will be set up every Wednesday
until Oct. 2
from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
in front of Johnson Center.
