As another year of our esteemed higher education begins, perhaps it’s time to treat our bodies to a new way of eating. The collegiate culinary cycle of ramen, frozen pizza, forget to rinse the dishes, repeat, can in fact be broken and forgotten – and probably much more easily than you’d assume.

Chinese medicine preaches it, and the Santa Cruz Farmers Market puts it on the table. Every Wednesday, booths line up downtown with the freshest locally-grown and organic produce of the season; strawberries, artichokes and lemons, just to name a few. And for those feeling the drain from sitting in class on sunny spring days, the farmers market also provides an array of Chinese herbs and medicinals meant to cure springtime sluggishness.

Fourth-year Merrill student Moises Plascenia is preparing to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Plascenia will leave for Jose Maria Morales, Mexico, this June and will study and volunteer with other students there through the Community Agroecology Network (CAN).

The usually laid-back vibe at the downtown farmers market became even more relaxed recently, as the previously erected barricade separating the long-standing drum circle from produce shoppers was taken down.