The Basic Needs Farmers Market and Health Fair connected hundreds of students with underused wellness resources.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council’s External Vice President, Sherry Zhou, hosted the fair in Wilson Plaza. The office spent $7,000 on the event, said Namrata Deepak, the head of internal affairs for the EVP office.
Attendees were encouraged to interact with more than 15 student-led health and wellness organizations that were tabling. Students requested a stamp from at least three groups they spoke with, which was redeemable for fresh produce or a meal from a participating food truck.
The EVP office’s primary mission is to lobby for students’ basic needs from the UC Board of Regents and the state legislature, and hosting basic need events themselves helps demonstrate the need for an expansion of these services at UCLA, Deepak said in an emailed statement.
“Given the size of our budget and the fact that we receive funds from student fees, our goal with the Farmers Market is to reinvest money into students,” said Deepak, a fourth-year political science and linguistics and anthropology student.
The EVP office invited various student organizations to the event, including the CPR and First Aid Program at UCLA, Sexperts and Dermatological at UCLA, said Alice Gao, the co-director of student relations for the EVP office and a fourth-year mathematics and history student.
Many student health organizations gave presentations about specific wellness issues, including how to promote cardiovascular health and CPR and first aid tutorials. Organizations distributed free health resources including sunscreen, skincare products, emergency contraceptives and condoms.
Harriet Chen, who tabled at the event for the CPR and First Aid program at UCLA, said the fair provided students with essential wellness information. Chen promoted UCLA’s CPR and First Aid program’s classes and certifications at her table and gave informative demonstrations with a CPR dummy.
“Health fairs serve as a really great reminder of how to take care of yourself and all the resources that are available to you,” said Chen, a second-year human biology and society student.
Mia Carter, a member of Dermatological at UCLA, said she was surprised that many students she spoke with were not aware of the importance of wearing sunscreen daily. She added that she believes these interactions highlight the need for more comprehensive health education through events such as the Basic Needs Fair.
Isabella Amaya Rojas, who tabled for Sexperts, a student-run sexual health and education organization, said the fair was a safe space for students to learn about sexual health resources they might be hesitant to inquire about otherwise .
“It’s scary for students to go and seek those resources out themselves,” said Amaya Rojas, a fourth-year neuroscience student.
Carter, a fourth-year biochemistry student, said she believes the event could have been advertised more, potentially through an email to students or on signs posted around campus. Moving the event to a busier part of campus could also increase engagement, Chen added .
“I only knew of this event through my organization,” said Asia Coleman, a second-year philosophy student. “Other than that, I didn’t really see any form of advertisement for this.”
Gao said her team sought to improve its marketing strategy from previous years, including by advertising the event on social media and at the Student Activities Center.
“We normally do very little outreach as the event tends to advertise itself and our goal is to reach people who normally do not engage with EVP’s work/need the resources,” Deepak said in an emailed statement.
John Chung, a third-year mechanical engineering student who attended the fair, said he appreciated that the event encouraged students to be mindful of their health.
“As college students, it’s very easy to not have a good perspective of how our health now affects our health very long term,” he said. “It’s very important, at the very least, to have awareness as college students for what we are eating and how what we’re doing now affects – really affects – ourselves later in life.”
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