Students
Market BY TRACEY RHOADES PHOTOS BY JE FF F ITLOW
Rain or shine, hot or cold, the market is always open.
Well, every Tuesday from 3:30 to 7 p.m., that is. Since April 2007, the parking lot adjacent to Rice Stadium has been transformed from an expanse of asphalt into a field of greens — literally. Local farmers and small-business entrepreneurs, offering everything from environmentally safe bug repellent to soaps and lotions and organic meals for two, have become a regular fixture and a much-anticipated part of the Rice campus.
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he market, which had been doing business in the parking lot of Christ the King Lutheran Church across the street from the stadium, outgrew its space and was invited by the university to move onto campus. In late 2010, after seven years as an independent, nonprofit organization, Houston Farmers Market Inc. became an official Rice entity and was appropriately renamed Rice University Farmers Market. While the name changed, what the market offers hasn’t, and marketgoers continue to reap the harvest. Carol “CJ” Claverie, market manager, affirms that with the addition of the university’s resources, the market will continue to grow and improve. “Having a farmers market on campus enriches the lives of students and community residents who have access to all the cultural resources of the fourth-largest city in the U.S. but may not experience the rural perspective represented by the food producers who come to the market every week,” Claverie said. Typically between 200 and 500 people visit the market each week. Rice faculty, staff and students are regular patrons,
but the market also draws people of all ages from the Texas Medical Center and surrounding neighborhoods. And many have grown accustomed and look forward to the seasonal delicacies the market offers. Springtime provides succulent strawberries and bountiful flowers, and early summer brings corn on the cob and perfect peaches from the Boerger Farm in Wharton, Texas, and other area orchards. “People new to the market are always surprised at what a tree-ripened peach tastes like,” Claverie said. “Once they’ve had them, they line up to buy twice as many as the week before.” In fall and winter, cool-weather crops, including spinach, kale and Swiss chard, and root vegetables, such as turnips, carrots and beets, return to the market’s tables. Weekly emails keep patrons abreast of the week’s featured items, and the organization’s website has a produce availability guide and recipes using available meats and in-season produce. An e-newsletter, also published weekly, provides readers with tips on a variety of topics, including how to store different types of vegetables, pictures of available products and news about upcoming musical entertainers, who often are on-site and complement the outdoor experience. While Rice’s market appears to be like any other farmers market, Claverie points out that there is one major difference. “The Rice Farmers Market is committed to being — first and
Rice Magazine
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No. 10
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2011
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