For the second straight summer, the Rue and Gwen Gibson Farm Market at California State University, Fresno has placed among the Top 20 small farm markets in a national contest.
The American Farmland Trust annually conducts the America’s Favorite Farm Market™ online popularity contest, dividing the competition into Boutique, Small, Medium and Large categories. Fans of the markets vote over several weeks for their favorite.
The Fresno State market ranked 18th in the 2010 voting and was the only one in California that made the Top 20. The market finished second last year.
The Gibson Farm Market is at the corner of Barstow and Chestnut avenues on the campus amidst the university’s Agricultural Laboratory, a 1,000-acre farm.
The student-operated market sells student-produced fruits, nuts, vegetables, dairy products, meats and wine from the first-in-the-nation on-campus commercial winery. Money earned through the sales is plowed back into the farm, where students get hands-on experience in the latest growing, irrigation and harvest techniques, often with industry partners.
The farm also is a research center, enabling students to participate in studies of food and water innovations with applications locally and worldwide.
The market is open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. More information is available at 559.278.4511 or at www.fresnostatefarmmarket.com.
