Farm to Table Bags Make Healthy Cooking Simple for Students
The Farm to Table bags at the Campus Farmers’ Market include fresh, local produce and a recipe card with instructions on how to prepare it.
When you hear the words “college student diet,” what foods come to mind? Most likely cheap, fatty foods with little nutritional value like ramen, pizza, mac ’n’ cheese and ice cream. The Wisconsin Union is hoping to change that.
The Campus Farmers’ Market at Union South, which takes place Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., aims to promote sustainability and support the community by offering local produce from area vendors. New this year to the market are Farm to Table bags. For $8, you receive a bagful of fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables from the week’s harvest along with a recipe card that includes ideas for ways to cook and eat your produce.
UW-Madison student Kate Berry (‘17) is a frequent market-goer who appreciates the value of fresh, local food. She has bought and cooked two Farm to Table bags, with one providing produce for ratatouille, a stewed vegetable dish, and one with the ingredients for a spicy salsa recipe.
The ratatouille bag included eggplant, onion, tomato and green pepper, and the spicy salsa bag contained cabbage, red onion, jalapeño, green pepper, tomato and cilantro. Berry noted both recipes were simple to prepare and mostly involved cutting up the fresh veggies.
“The recipes were both super easy,” Berry said. “It also makes a lot of food, so I can have it throughout the week.”
Berry said she was able to use the produce in different ways, such as added in wraps, as a dip with chips, mixed with chicken or eaten as a side. You can also can tweak the recipes by adding spices or garnishes to satisfy your palate.
Meghan Roberts, marketing representative for the Union, said she believes the program makes healthy cooking simple for college students.
“Each bag features a simple dorm- or apartment-friendly recipe and all the fresh, local vegetables you’d need to make it,” Roberts said.
Farmers’ market visitors who are interested in the Farm to Table bags also have the opportunity to sample the recipe, while guest organizations like WUD Cuisine demo the process.
“We have created more ways for student groups to get involved, created learning spaces to educate students about the fresh, local fruits and vegetables available on campus and developed a way for students to bring the things they’ve learned home to share with their friends,” Roberts said.
Be sure to stop by the Campus Farmers’ Market at Union South on Thursdays until Oct. 27.
Farm to Table bags come with a recipe card, such as this one, to guide the cooking process.
The market features local and organic products from around Wisconsin.
