Market offers fresh produce on UA Mall

Visitors to the weekly farmers market on the University of Arizona campus can buy lemons and other fruit and vegetables harvested from local neighborhoods by refugees and volunteers.

Shamsa Omar, a Somali refugee who is learning to speak and write English, helped students and other customers Wednesday in buying produce, organic coffee, chai and hot chocolate.

Omar is a member of the Iskashitaa Refugee Harvesting Network, one of many vendors offering their wares this semester.

Barbara Eiswerth, a volunteer coordinater for the nonprofit network, said it is a cooperative effort of refugees and volunteers from the Tucson community.

Iskashitaa is a Somali word meaning cooperative learning, Eiswerth said.

The group harvests fruits and vegetables that would otherwise not be used from neighborhoods and groves.

Some of the harvest is given to the refugees, and most of the funds raised are applied to the group's operational costs, Eiswerth said.

"If people are not harvesting . . . lemons, they go on the ground and they go to the landfill," Eiswerth said. "We'd rather feed people with this nutritious food. We're getting good reactions from the community as well as the students."

Eiswerth said the group harvested olives this season and is proud to begin selling Tucson's first locally produced olive oil.

Tyler Maly, a UA senior and member of UA's nutrition club, said the club wants to help the network encourage students to participate in its efforts to integrate refugees into the community.

Booths scattered between Old Main and the Student Union sell products ranging from fresh produce to "gourmet dog treats" to personal care products.

Greg Richardson, owner of the Desert Oasis Soap Co., sells lip balm made with hemp oil, body butters with coconut oil, bath salts, and about a dozen varieties of handmade bar soaps.

"It hasn't gone over as well as I thought it would," Richardson said. "Students don't spend a lot of money because they're just getting out of class and they don't have a lot of money on them."

Other vendors have had better luck winning over UA students.

Dr. Hummus, a Tempe-based company selling hummus flavors made without tahini to appeal to heart-health conscious consumers offered samples of hummus and pita chips at its booth.

"We're one of the most popular guys here," said Paul Smith, manning the booth.

Grammy's Garden booth, surrounded by students and UA faculty members, offered organic and pesticide-free produce that included melons, onions, cucumbers, apples and tomatoes from Willcox, Yuma and Mexico.

George Wyckoff, the co-manager of Grammy's Garden, said the success it has with students perhaps is because young people are more educated about health and nutrition than in the past.

Christina Bills, a UA freshman planning to major in dietetics, said she goes to the farmer's market in search of green tea and honey.

Bills prefers the market to traditional supermarkets, she said, because the products are more natural and do not contain chemicals that may be harmful to the body.