Organization offers fresh produce to local students

While New Orleans may be a food town, sometimes finding fresh, local produce can be a challenge for students on campus. With that in mind, a coalition of students at Tulane and Loyola universities created Student Supported Agriculture (SSA), an organization that seeks to provide hyper-local, seasonal fruits and vegetables to students on both campuses.

Tulane students Sam Kiyomi Turner, left, and Emma Lisec, center, along with Loyola junior Alex Goldman inspect broccoli at the farm at Our School at Blair Grocery for their organization Student Supported Agriculture, which offers fresh produce to students on both campuses. (Photo by Ryan Rivet)

One of their largest vendors is Our School at Blair Grocery (OSBG), a food justice academy and urban farm located in the Lower Ninth Ward.

“It quickly became this idea for us to bridge the gap between the farms like OSBG in the Lower Ninth Ward and students uptown,” Lisec says. “It became a way of creating this beneficial relationship that helps both groups.”

SSA has prepared and sold bags of produce at the Green Wave Community Market held at the Tulane Hillel House. Lisec says the reception has been remarkably positive so far.

“We have prepared 30 bags each time and they've all sold out. That was a huge success for us,” Lisec says.

In light of those successes, Lisec says they're planning to bring more bags to the last Community Market on Sunday (March 23).

The next step is offering a subscription plan where students can pay at the beginning of the semester and receive a bag of fruits and vegetables every two weeks. She believes the benefits go beyond just getting good food.

“We'd like to encourage students to get involved with places like OSBG,” Lisec says. “If students go out to the farms and see how they grow the food, they would be inspired to support local farmers through programs like ours.”