The farmers’ market presented as part of the Concordia Student Union’s back-to-school orientation to promote sustainable and healthy living took over Reggie’s terrace Wednesday, Sept. 6.
Students and community members from local and university-based initiatives gathered from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. to participate in the farmers’ market on the first official day of semester. The event started off with breakfast for new and returning students at 11 a.m. by offering regional produce such as organic apples.
Different booths pushed ecological awareness by selling local produce from Concordia and other provincial organizations, cooking displays that used fresh, unprocessed and local foods, and different artisans who fabricated their own products.
CSU VP sustainability Andrew Roberts organized the event to encourage new students to pursue a sustainable lifestyle and to join campus initiatives.
“It’s good to promote this growing urban agriculture sustainable food movement,” said Roberts. “We’ve got a market happening and we have vendors giving out flyers for the Marché Locale.”
Fruixi, a project launched by the City of Montreal in 2011, also had a stall set up on the terrace. Fruixi is an initiative to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to the urban core by setting up carts attached to bikes stocked with food in downtown parks.
“Initially the project was started up to promote healthy eating in the Centre-Sud neighborhood,” explained Fruixi co-ordinator Maxime St-Denis. “Residents of the area are often marginalized and more vulnerable considering low socioeconomic status so we gave them access to healthy foods.”
St-Denis wanted to diversify Fruixi’s clientele by extending their services to Concordia University students and the West End of Montreal.
“Having access to healthy foods is the secret to good health,” St-Denis said. “We’re here to promote our project, to be discovered in a part of the city we don’t work with much.”
The Concordia City Farm school is a project organized by Sustainable Concordia that shows students the basics of agriculture and farming.
In association with the greenhouse on the 13th floor of the Hall building, the City Farm School gave students free samples of green tea produced at the Loyola farm.
With files from Marie-Josée Kelly
