Lianna Nakashima/Daily Nexus

UCSB hosts a Gaucho Certified Farmers Market every Wednesday from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. between Campbell Hall and North Hall to allow “staff, students, faculty, and the local community to access fresh, locally grown produce and artisan goods.” The market includes Nimita’s Cuisine, Burger Bus, Juice Ranch and, most importantly, Peddler’s Ice Creamery.

Peddler’s Ice Creamery is a unique, artisan ice cream shop, which is known for its high-quality organic ice cream. The standout fact about this ice cream haven is that every batch is churned by a bicycle to achieve the velvety texture that has come to define their product.

In my brief experience at Peddler’s, I tried  a range of flavors from cinnamon, sweet cream, mint chip and lavender. It was the most yummy ice cream I have ever had in my nineteen years of existence. The four flavors shared a common thread of creamy, melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness. Although the ice cream was slightly more melted than desired since I attended toward the end of the farmers market, the ice cream still satisfied my palate. The notable ice cream flavor, cinnamon, encompassed the essence of the spice as well as accentuating the richness vanilla.

In return for trying their ice cream flavors, the hosts asked participants to sign up for the “Cool Campus Challenge Ice Cream Event.” According to the program brochure, the campaign hosts a friendly competition amongst the UC campuses designed to reduce the carbon footprint of students and staff alike. This small gesture works toward the goal of the UC system to reach carbon neutrality by 2025. If you post to social media about the campaign, they suggest hashtagging #UCool and #UCSBCoolest.

Peddler’s Ice Creamery offers twenty dairy flavors from snickerdoodle to banana chocolate chip, about eight non-dairy flavors from salted caramel to chile mango and, lastly, about seven sorbet flavors from strawberry mint to orange carrot ginger. The organic, fair-trade, local and exotic ingredients unique to Peddler’s gives them an advantage to other ice cream companies. Not only does Peddler’s Ice Creamery provide a titillating experience for ice cream lovers, but it also follows an environmentally friendly mission that is imperative to  the future of humanity.