Visit the Pride Walk this spring to welcome the return of ETSU’s Farmers Market.

The ETSU Farmers Market will be returning to campus on March 23 and will be open every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The market will host the same vendors from the past visits including Mulberry Mobile Nursery, Early Bird’s Coffee Company and multiple produce booths that offer a wide range of ingredients. The Department of Sustainability and EcoNuts will also return with their booth of free clothing.

Carrie Patrick is the president of the ETSU Farmers Market, but as she is making her way out as a graduating senior, she is actively working in a co-presidency role. Currently in charge of the market alongside a co-president, Patrick oversees booth applications, placement and vacancy for participating businesses as well as making sure they are local and relevant to students’ needs.

Locality being a main goal for the farmers market, all products and businesses are handpicked from a 100-mile radius of campus.

“Getting that guarantee for students is really reassuring for me as a consumer as well,” Patrick said. “Because I know where this stuff [produce] is grown and I can go to their farm and I can look at it if I want to.”

Limited on space, the farmers market picks booths carefully to avoid duplicates, competition and provide as much as they can for students.

“We’re trying to keep students in mind,” said Patrick. “We want to be able to satisfy something for every student.”

After farming work and overall labor decreased due to COVID-19, the market faced some hurdles in booking produce booths for the past two years. Now, Patrick is happy to see the booths from prior visitations will safely return to the market this spring.

For more information on the farmer’s market, visit their Instagram at @etsufarmersmarket. On Facebook, visit Farmers Market at East Tennessee State University.