About the Mobile Market

Benefits of the Mobile Market

PROVIDES reliable and reasonably-priced source of diverse, fresh, high-quality, local and often organic produce to Duke faculty and staff;

CONNECTS employees to farmers who bring fresh produce straight from the fields directly to the workplace;

GIVES growers a guaranteed way to sell what the farm produces at a fair price;

BUILDS local rural community's economy by keeping food purchases close to home;

SUPPORTS traditional North Carolina farmers as they transition to environmentally sustainable and organic production methods.

Eat Outside the Box

The Duke Mobile Farmers Market is the first market of its kind at any university. Our mobile market is a form of community supported agriculture (CSA), a concept developed in Japan in the 1960s that encourages small farmers to provide produce directly to their local customers. The concept has become increasingly popular in the United States since the 1980s.

CSAs come in several forms. Workplace or corporate CSAs, such as the Duke Mobile Farmers Market, help busy professionals get fresh produce at a fair price, delivered to the workplace. Deliveries pick-up locations are often conveniently located near employee parking lots at times when employees leave work and head for home. Farmers are mobile - they transport CSA boxes to the worksite. Employees are mobile - they pick up boxes as they leave work and drive home.

The CSA mobile market is different from traditional farmers markets because shoppers are required to sign-up and pre-pay for one or more shares. A share represents part of a week's harvest - the types of products at the mobile market vary by week and by farmer. Some farmers offer share sizes in individual, couple and family amounts.

LIVE FOR LIFE manages the Duke Mobile Farmers Market, which was created with help from the Cooperative Extension Program at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and at North Carolina State University, along with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

For more information, please see the Mobile Farmers Market Frequently Asked Questions page.