UALR students, faculty, and staff can shop for locally grown in-season produce, meat, and cheese in a new farmer’s market service sponsored by the UALR Sustainability Committee and Sodexo Dining Services.

Dr. Nancy Landrum, chair of the UALR Sustainability Committee, said the new email shopping service — operated by Farm2Work, connecting Arkansas farmers with Arkansas workers — will offer members of the UALR community convenient access to locally produced food.

The organization offers 382 products, ranging from produce, dairy, and meat to freshly baked breads, jams and jellies, prepared food, teas, coffees, spices, and bath products. To get the program started at UALR, Landrum said the $25 to enroll in the program will be waived for the first two orders so customers can try the service out.

“Food travels an average of 1,300 miles to your grocery store, usually from California, Florida, and Washington,” she said. “Fruits and vegetables spend an average of seven to 14 in transit, but when you buy locally, your food was typically harvested within the last 24 hours. Grocery stores choose food for durability, not for taste or nutrition. When you know your farmer, you know your food.”

The growers will list their products on Thursday evenings, and Farm2Work will open the market at 10 a.m. Friday with an email to all who created an account. Customers can put in their orders until the market closes at 7 p.m. Monday.

Growers get a total count of the orders placed, and they begin to harvest, bake, and prepare to deliver to Farm2Work. On Wednesday morning, Farm2Work assembles the orders and delivers them to the designated drop off locations at UALR.

“Farm2Work uses a deep freezer, coolers, and frozen cold packs to keep the meat frozen and the cheeses cooled. Many of their clients will leave an empty cooler in their office, and they will place the order and some frozen ice packs and close the lid and pull the door closed,” she said.

Shoppers also can opt to pick up their weekly orders at two Little Rock locations — Eggshell’s Kitchen Co. at 5501 Kavanaugh Blvd. or The Kitchen Co. in the Pleasant Ridge Town Center, 11525 Cantrell Road.