This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Mercer chapter.
The Farmer’s Market at the UC is many’s favorite new restaurant. Here, they offer a variety of fresh, healthy options as an alternative to the caf. Because of its buffet style set-up, everyone can go back as many times as they want and get all of the food they can eat! Students, professors, and visitors alike can come together and dine at this delightful place.
At the front of the buffet line, there is a colorful salad bar with different lettuces, toppings, and dressing. Even vegetarians are able to find protein-packed toppings like beans, chickpeas, and nuts to put on their salad to create a well-rounded meal.
After the salad comes the soups, which will be perfect once this hot Macon weather decides to cool down. Sweater weather’s coming up, and these soups will be in high demand once it gets here. Warm, tasty, and filling, people will be lining up to get some once fall sets in.
One of the sandwich options is a chicken barbecue panini. Made with chicken, American cheese, lettuce, barbecue sauce, and hot pressed these sandwiches are warm, delicious, and can be made to order. Another option is a grilled chicken with honey mustard sauce. The lean white chicken meat is a healthier alternative to the more fatty red meats, like beef. All of the sandwiches can be made with garden-fresh vegetables and tasty sauces.
The stir-fry is exciting because everyone can watch their food being made – just like at a hibachi grill! It is so much more appetizing to be able to watch the cook chop the vegetables and add them to the rice or pasta on the grill. The sizzling sound is absolutely mouthwatering and creates an atmosphere similar to a nice restaurant.
By far, the most exciting part of this new restaurant is the smoothies. Instead of coming from a packaged mix, these smoothies are blended at the counter using bananas, ice, frozen berries, milk and sugar. They are placed in small plastic cups that aren’t quite a full serving size, but, because they are unlimited, everyone can get as many as they like! One, two, ten, any amount is perfectly fine!
The best part of the Farmer’s Market is that even though the food is “lighter,” everyone leaves feeling full. Instead of feeling gross as one would after filling up on cheap fast food, people leave feeling better about eating well and taking care of themselves, all while getting plenty to last through the entire day. As an incoming freshman, I am personally grateful for this addition to my meal options for the next four years. What makes it even better is – for everyone on the unlimited meal plan – there are unlimited access swipes here.
There is no way to review the Farmer’s Market without comparing it to the Fresh Food Company (even though we all know it’s called the caf). It’s much healthier, and everyone can agree that the Farmer’s Market is the preferred option. I know that I’m excited about it, are you?