UofL provides locally grown produce through community partnerships
July 3, 2025
The Gray Street Farmers Market features locally grown produce such as these tomatoes
Learn where to get in-season, local produce within reach of UofL campuses
Summer has arrived, which means in-season, local produce is within reach of the University of Louisville’s campuses. Community partnerships and gardens driven by UofL’s Sustainability Council provide access to locally-sourced groceries and goods in downtown Louisville through UofL programs.
The Gray Street Farmers Market, Knob Hill Farms CSA subscriptions and UofL’s Community Gardens, all in collaboration with UofL’s Sustainability Council, can help campus neighbors and Cardinals supplement grocery store produce for healthier alternatives, save money and decrease individual environmental impact.
“Nothing is more indicative of unsustainable living than our widespread disconnection from the most fundamental thing that sustains us, where and how our food is grown,” said Justin Mog, director of UofL’s Sustainability Council. “These initiatives represent UofL’s best efforts to reconnect us to the land, the ecology, the local economies and the people that we cannot live without.”
Each program below is open to the public.
Thursdays 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
June - September
Pickups Tuesday at UofL 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
CSA Subscriptions
Summer Garden Gatherings
Urban & Public Affairs Garden: 7 p.m. Mondays
Garden Commons: 12 p.m. Thursdays
Knob Hill Farms and Community Supported Agriculture
Since 2004, Keith McKenzie and his family have managed Knob Hill Farms’s 26 acres, including 2 acres of USDA-certified organic farmland, to share healthy and locally grown produce with Louisville’s residents. When McKenzie moved with his wife to Louisville to work on his master’s degree in social work, the pair rented plots to garden while living in the city. The community they found in Louisville and their love of gardening were the beginning sprout of Knob Hill Farms. The connections made through gardening encouraged McKenzie to expand his gift for gardening and community building to Knob Hill Farms and, ultimately, community-supported agriculture (CSA).
“What we want to do is share what it's like to grow produce, what it's like to farm, what it's like to encounter nature on multiple fronts,” McKenzie said.
Knob Hill Farms is able to operate thanks to their CSA subscriptions, which allow customers to buy a share in the farm for the season by supporting the work and reaping the harvest through weekly in-season provisions. Each week, McKenzie meets subscribers at one of his pickup locations, including a stop at UofL’s Belknap Campus. At these pickups, McKenzie hears directly from customers about their upcoming needs from Knob Hill Farms which allows him to adapt crop choices. Farmers Markets and CSA create mutually beneficial relationships between farmers and their customers without additional cost or damage from including a third-party grocery store.
“There's been a move to modernize and to embrace technology. At what cost and at what expense? I believe in the exchange for convenience and in pursuit of, ultimately, the American Dream. We gave up power. We gave up control of how we prepare food and what is in the food that's prepared for us,” McKenzie said. “And for my wife and me, this – I believe – is an opportunity for us to gain some control, some power, some sense of liberation.”
Gray Street Farmers Market
Begun in 2009, Gray Street Farmers Market is a project of UofL’s School of Public Health and Information Sciences (SPHIS) in partnership with Louisville Metro Government and Catholic Charities Common Earth Gardens. Their goal is to increase access to fresh food in downtown Louisville. In addition to providing access to affordable, locally grown produce, the market welcomes craft vendors, food trucks and partners like the Louisville Free Public Library. The market is open every Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. from June through September, rain or shine.
SPHIS has food access programs to provide support to customers enrolled in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP) and seniors. SNAP dollars can be tripled at the Gray Street Farmers Market by their Triple Dollar Program.
UofL Community Gardens
Seeking out local produce may not take you much further than your own backyard, neighborhood or campus. Gardening is another way to shorten your grocery store list while decreasing environmental damage. UofL’s two community gardens, Garden Commons and Urban & Public Affairs Garden, are cared for and harvested by students, staff, faculty and public volunteers. Each week, volunteers meet to care for the garden, learn and enjoy a share of the produce.
