Students looking for an alternative to the food fare on campus might consider walking down to the corner of Van Ness and Olive avenues to the To-wer District Farmer’s Market.

Produce and merchandise varies at the market, which is essentially a central Fresno swap meet. Vendors also vary, depending on the season.

Lately, Carmen Gonzalez has been the lone vendor within the slender aluminum tubing, beneath the tarp, and behind a table of California and imported produce.

“These,” she said in Spanish, pointing to a box of Fuji apples, “are local. So are the clementines, the jalapenos, the carrots, and so are the two kinds of honey.”

Despite the availability of inexpensive local produce, business runs at a fairly inconsistent pace.

Still, Gonzalez provides a taste of the majority of her fruit, and welcomes customers to catch a scent of the orange blossom and wildflower honey before they buy them.

“That is the honey I like most,” she said, holding out the wildflower honey, pointing out to the foothills. “It is made from all the flowers in the mountains.”

Gonzalez, a native of Oaxaca, Mexico, also vends plums from Peru, tomatoes from Sinaloa, Mexico, pineapples from Hawaii, and a cavalcade of other imported and domestic fruits and vegetables.

The majority of her local produce is available for less than a dollar a pound.