University of Michigan students can buy organically grown kale, peppers and squash for 30% less than other shoppers at a weekly pop-up market on South Ingalls Mall.

The Campus Farm Stand is in its third year using a mobile trailer at Ingalls Mall, according to The Michigan Daily. It opens every Thursday from noon to 3 p.m. and runs from mid-August through about mid-November, depending on the first frost. The U-M Sustainable Food Program (UMSFP) and the Campus Farm at Matthaei Botanical Gardens run the stand, which is staffed by paid student employees.

The produce comes straight from the Campus Farm, where student volunteers and staff grow seasonal fruits and vegetables. The stand’s wood-paneled trailer was built by students from fallen campus trees and is towed to Ingalls Mall each week by a solar-charged electric truck, according to the university’s Planet Blue website.

Talia Fedewa, an LSA junior and Farm Stand manager, told The Michigan Daily that the selection shifts with the seasons. Summer weeks feature raspberries, strawberries and watermelon. By fall, the tables fill with pumpkins and squash.

Carmen Scales, an LSA senior who told The Daily she has shopped at the stand weekly for two years, said the prices stretch her grocery budget.

“I have entire meals’ worth of food for less than $10,” Scales said.

Proceeds from the stand cover growing costs and support the Student Food Empowerment Fund, Fedewa told The Daily. The UMSFP grant program awards $400 to $3,000 for student-led food projects, according to the university’s funding page.

The stand doubles as an outdoor classroom. Morgan Deenik, an architecture junior and Farm Stand engagement manager, designs hands-on activities and partners with organizations like A2Zero, the city’s carbon-neutrality initiative, to table alongside the produce. Fedewa told The Daily that recent activities have included a pollinator quiz board styled after “Jeopardy!,” seed-identification exercises and compost-sorting demonstrations using petri dishes.

Kaylee McMillen, UMSFP co-president and an LSA and Environment & Sustainability student, told The Daily the stand is about more than cheap vegetables. She described it as an educational opportunity to show students “another world of accessing food” at the neighborhood or university scale.

Faculty and community members can also shop at full price. Students pay the discounted rate.

Upcoming community events

  • Campus Farm Stand: Thursdays, noon to 3 p.m., South Ingalls Mall, through about mid-November (weather permitting). Students receive a 30% discount on all produce. Check the stand’s Instagram account for updates and weekly produce lists.