Goucher College Holds Farmers' Market This Friday, 9/4

In keeping with the ongoing emphasis on raising awareness about environmental sustainability—including how food choices affect the global ecosystem—Goucher College will host a farmers’ markets this Friday, September 4, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the courtyard of the Alumnae/i House.

The market is free and open to students, faculty, and staff, as well as members of the greater community. Plenty of free parking is available. Go to http://www.goucher.edu/documents/campusmaplow.pdf to see a campus map. For more information, call 410-337-6316.

Participating food grower and artisans will include:

· Firefly Farms, Bittinger, MD, artisan cheeses
· Gunpowder Bison and Trading Company, Monkton, MD, bison meat
· Hearn Kirkwood, Hanover, MD, produce, meat, poultry, dairy, and seafood
· Lancaster County Farms Cooperative, Leola, PA, organic produce, grass-based hormone- and antibiotic-free milk and dairy products, cheeses, yogurts, pastured poultry, eggs, ground beef
· Roseda Beef Farm, Monkton, MD, natural Angus beef
· Stone Mill Bakery, Lutherville, MD, artisanal breads and baked goods
· Sunnyside Farms, Washington, VA, organic fruits and vegetables
· Tuscarora Organic Growers, Hustontown, PA, organic fruits and vegetables
· Two Oceans Seafood, Stevenson, MD, sustainable wild seafood and environmentally sound farmed seafoods

This will be the first in a series of farmers’ markets held on Goucher’s campus. Others will be held on Friday, September 18; Friday, October 16; Friday, October 30; Friday, November 6; and Friday, November 20.

All markets will be held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the courtyard at the Alumnae/i House.

Food in the United States travels an average of 1,500 miles to get to the plate. All this shipping uses large amounts of natural resources (especially fossil fuels), contributes greatly to pollution, and creates excess trash with extra packaging. Conventional agriculture also uses many more resources than sustainable agriculture and pollutes water, land, and air with toxic agricultural byproducts.

Besides reducing greenhouse gas emissions, buying from local growers helps support sustainable farming practices that replenish the land, and it can prevent foods that contain pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics from reaching consumers’ plates.