St. John’s students had a rare opportunity to shop for fresh food items in a small farmers’ market this week.

The farmers’ market was the opening event for St. John’s annual Spring Week, which began Monday, April 19. Local vendors came to campus with a sampling of fresh produce and organic food for students to sample and purchase.

The event was planned by Multicultural Affairs to help give students a taste of fresh and organic foods as opposed to the processed foods that are more widely available to students on the St. John’s campus.

Freshman Regina Wittaker said it can be hard to find food that works for a healthy lifestyle.

“It’s hard to find a farmers’ market without
going anywhere too far away,” she said.

Helayna Herschkorn, a junior, helped get the vendors to attend and said she had resident students in mind because of the difficulty they face when it comes to healthy eating on campus.

“Not everyone can get vegetables so it’s good to have fresh food available,” she said.

Anna Nguyen, a junior and member of the Earth Club, stated that the toss-up between eating healthy or not often comes down to which choice is more convenient.

Vendors at the market include Picklelicious and Meredith’s Bread. Picklelicious has many stores located throughout New Jersey and New York but still rely on word of mouth marketing as a way to get their name out there.

Herschkorn said that she is trying to get the farmers’ market to become a more frequent event here at St. John’s. She is focused on trying to have unique items available for sale but keeps in mind that students are not able to buy everything.

“We’re trying to make sure that nothing conflicts with the items we have here. Our goal is to sell not compete but it’s good to have a wide
variety,” she said.