2020 Sustainability Fair Vendors and Organizations
The Office of Sustainability is excited to feature the following groups at the Sustainability Fair during Green Week 2020! The Sustainability Fair will be happening Thursday, April 23rd from 10 A.M – 1 P.M at the Galtney-Lott Plaza.
ASB Sustainability Committee
The Associated Student Body at the university recently added a Sustainability Committee in the Fall of 2018. It is led by the ASB Director of Sustainability and the members of the ASB Sustainability Board. This group works towards educating the campus on sustainability initiatives, planning events that promote a greener campus, and drafting legislation for the ASB senate. Members do not have to be apart of ASB.
Chicory Market
Chicory Market is a local community grocery store started by Kate Bishop and John Martin in the Fall of 2017. It offers a wide selection of locally-sourced food and a hygiene section with brands such as Mrs. Myers. Chicory also operates a commissary style kitchen that local food makers can rent out for cooking. The market offers gluten-free options, vegetarian meals, and accepts Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) and food stamps.
Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a non-profit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization that empowers people to exercise their own personal and political power. This is just one chapter out of hundreds around the world hoping to incite political change for a more sustainable world. Currently, they are focused on a specific piece of legislation–Carbon-Fee and Dividend, a policy that will reduce emissions, create jobs and support small businesses.
City of Oxford Recycling
The city of Oxford Recycling manages all of Oxford/Lafayette County’s recycling. They accept corrugated cardboard, mixed paper, white paper, aluminum cans, steel cans, and plastic bottles #1 and #2. They offer curbside recycling in most areas and have three drop-off locations as well. Oxford Recycling partners with the Office of Sustainability through a variety of events and programs, such as our Green Grove program.
Delta Ridge Barbecue Sauce
Delta Ridge BBQ Sauce is a small cottage food company from Batesville, Mississippi. Their slogan reads, “Born in the Ridges of Arkansas, Perfected in the Delta of Mississippi.” They make six unique sauces: Original, Honey Heat, Smoked Hickory Mustard, Fiery Honey Bourbon, KD Original, and a Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free Original. You can purchase their sauces through their Facebook page or at the Oxford Community Market.
Egyptian Delights
Egyptian Delights specializes in all kinds of Egyptian, Arabian, and Mediterranian cuisines. Some of their most popular dishes include hummus, baba ganoush, and eggplant dips, baklava, tabouli, and pita bread. You can visit Egyptian Delights at the Oxford Community Market.
Fallen Oak Designs
Fallen Oak Designs is a family business that specializes in handcrafted wood art. They only use the wood from trees that are storm-damaged or have fallen resulting in each piece of art being uniquely different. They create anything from bowls, stool, benches to items for the kitchen and garden.
Harris Family Farm
Harris Family Farm is operated by David and Gladne Harris in Water Valley, Mississippi and has been Certified Naturally Grown for 11 years. They only use sustainable practices on their farm and do not bring in any outside materials to put in the garden. Meaning no chemicals or pesticides and generation of their own fertilizer, mulch, and compost. Their major product is gourmet garlic and they also grow seed for seed companies.
Hill Country Roots
Hill Country Roots is a local service organization dedicated to planting trees around Oxford and Lafayette County. It was created to discuss actions that citizens felt were important to protect the environment, especially on a local level. Their goal is to help the community plant more trees and learn how to maintain them. You can learn more about their meetings if you visit their Facebook page.
Magnolia Grove Campus Audubon Chapter
The Magnolia Grove Campus Audubon Chapter seeks to create a culture of conservation by engaging in advocacy, conservation, and habitat creation projects in the UM community and beyond. They work to protect birds and the places they need today and tomorrow through education on the importance of biodiversity and by partnering with other campuses in Mississippi. Just as biodiversity strengthens natural systems, the diversity of the human experience strengthens our conservation efforts for the benefit of nature and human beings.
Mardis Honey
Beginning in the Oxford area in 2010, Mardis Honey started with the elder Mardises selling honey after beekeeping on and off throughout their lives. Now, as the business was passed on to the next generation in 2016, Karen (Mardis) Lafferty, Andrew Lafferty, and their two children run the business. They sell a variety of sizes and styles of honey, and it is always 100% pure, raw, and local.
Mr. Stark Aldridge
Mr. Stark Aldridge is the Oxford Community Market’s unofficial greeter. He is a friendly farmer who lives in Pontotoc County. Some of his products include brown eggs and homemade jams and jellies. You can be greeted by Mr. Stark Aldridge every Tuesday at the Oxford Community Market.
North MS VISTA Project
The North Mississippi VISTA Project at the University of Mississippi offers opportunities of service at non-profit organizations focusing on capacity building, alleviating poverty, building sustainable systems, and empowering communities. They develop projects in high-need areas throughout 28 counties to help connect UM and its resources to these low-income communities. They seek dynamic individuals to serve as Volunteers in Service of America (VISTAs) through summer associate positions, yearlong VISTA positions, and VISTA leader positions.
North East Mississippi Electric Power Association
NEMEPA is a rural electric cooperative that services parts of five countries around Oxford, maintaining lines in a 920-square-mile service area. They provide electricity to several farms as well as residential, commercial, and industrial members. NEMEPA offers Green Power, which provides power off-the-grid (i.e. solar power).
Office of Sustainability Compost Program
The pilot compost program at the University of Mississippi began in the Fall of 2013 after a student proposed the project to the Green Fund and received funding for it. The program collects food waste three times a week from campus dining facilities such as the Grill at 1810, Lenoir Dining, Rebel Market, and the Residential Colleges. The program holds various composting events, such as Sift-A-Tons, Food Day events, and composting with the UM Food Bank.
Ole Miss Outdoors
Ole Miss Outdoors (OMOD) is offered through the Department of Campus Recreation. The program aims to get students, faculty, staff, and community members alike out into the great outdoors through a variety of inclusive outdoor recreation opportunities, such as taking a group to Zion over Spring Break. OMOD encourages adventure, environmental awareness & education, and personal development through its activities.
Oxford Community Market
Oxford Community Market (OXCM) is a weekly Mississippi Certified Farmers Market held at the Old Armory Pavillion on Tuesday from 3-6:30 p.m. from April to December. In addition to providing a venue for local farmers and vendors to sell their goods, the market aims to address food insecurity by making healthy, local food more accessible to every member of our community. OXCM hosts a variety of vendors, from Yokna Bottoms Farm to Civitello’s Sorbet and Italian Ice to Bottle Tree Poultry Farm.
Oxford Tree Board
The City of Oxford Tree Board’s plan is to establish a vision for the future keeping in mind the cultural factors that are unique to Oxford. They believe that the City of Oxford’s heritage must work to maintain the city’s abundance of trees for today and the future of the city. They have regular meetings on the first Thursday of every month.
Oxsicles
Lauren Klimetz is the mastermind behind Oxsicles, where she sells handcrafted healthy ice pops made with fresh, all-natural ingredients in Oxford. The pops are made with locally sourced ingredients whenever possible and sweetened with Mardis Honey. She offers a large variety of flavors, and most pops are dairy-free!
RebelWell
RebelWell is a campus and community wellness program at the University of Mississippi designed to be a resource for employees, students, and the community. RebelWell encourages sustainable behaviors that increase health and improve the quality of life through various incentives and programs.
Samsara Gardens
Samsara Gardens is a small scale sustainable market garden located in Tupelo, Mississippi. They provide high-quality vegetables while using organic practices serving the North Mississippi area. You can visit Samsara Gardens at the Oxford Community Market, where they usually sell microgreens, lettuce mix, and arugula.
She Mixes It With Love
She Mixes It With Love is a home-based business in Water Valley, Mississippi. She specializes in making candy and desserts that everyone will love. You can visit She Mixes It With Love at the Oxford Community Market.
Twinman Creations
Twinman Creations is a local, family-run gourmet cottage cookie bakery that specializes in the classics and funky favorites. Some of their most popular creations are the corn cookies, snickerdoodles, and peanut butter cookies. They also create soaps, lotions, body scrubs, and natural bug repellent. You can visit Twinman Creations at the Oxford Community Market.
UM Clinical Disaster Research Center
The University of Mississippi Clinical Disaster Research Center is made of a diverse team of researchers and graduate students from the Department of Psychology. The focus on research, education, and service regarding clinical disaster psychology. They research how individuals who have been affected by natural and man-made disasters cope with such difficulties.
UM Field Station
The University of Mississippi Field Station is a facility rooted in research and education that services a variety of populations, including faculty and students, public and private schools, government agencies, and the broader Mid-South community. The Station aims to foster ecosystem stewardship and includes a Center for Water and Wetland Resources. The Field Station is located on a 740-acre site 11 miles northeast of the UM Oxford campus.
UM Food Bank
The University of Mississippi Food Bank aims to help with issues of student food insecurity and is open to all students, regardless of financial status. Students’ information remains confidential and no identifying information is recorded. A variety of foods, as well as toiletries and other items, are offered. The Food Bank is located in Kinard 213 and their hours can be located through their website.
UM Garden Club
The University of Mississippi Garden Club was established in the Fall of 2015. The club meets once a week to weed, plant, and harvest in the garden located behind the Residential College South Building. The members of the club use compost provided by the Office of Sustainability Compost Program to grow fresh produce for themselves and the UM Food Bank.
Yokna Bottoms Farm
Yokna Bottoms Farm is North Mississippi’s first Certified Naturally Grown CSA farm, paving the way for sustainable agriculture in Mississippi. Their goal is to produce sustainable food while supporting sustainable agriculture farms and artisans in Northern Mississippi. They serve as a research site for developing successful agriculture practices and as educators on the benefits of local, sustainable food.