After a short JHMI ride to Penn Station and a few stops on the Purple Line you will arrive at one of the largest continuously running markets in the world — Lexington Market.
For over 230 years this market has stood on Lexington Street in Downtown Baltimore, housing more than 150 local vendors, selling items from fresh produce and seafood to Hawaiian, Korean and authentic Chesapeake dishes. Open Monday to Saturday, it’s an unknown and underrated place in the Hopkins community. Yes, it’s a bit of a hassle to get to if you don’t have a car. And yes, no one wants to carry their groceries from the street to their front door, let alone from the Inner Harbor to Charles Village. But take a trip downtown to buy your weekly groceries, eat a crab cake at Faidley’s and have some fried chicken at each of the five fried chicken stalls. There’s even a section of the market dedicated to non-food-related items such as jewelry, cosmetics and shoes. My bet is that the food that you buy here will be fresher, cheaper and better overall than the food offered in the stores near campus. It’s worth the trek just to experience an integral part of Baltimore’s history and the amalgamation of cultures that have had such an international impact on Baltimore cuisine.
Still, on top of going to class, studying, clubs, research and part-time jobs, not all of us have the time to go all the way downtown to buy a head of lettuce and some fruit. So what do you do to ensure you’re receiving the proper nutrition to get you through until Thanksgiving break? Sadly, most of the farmers’ markets in Baltimore close around this time of year. The Waverly Farmers’ Market on East 32 Street and Barclay Street, however, is one of Baltimore’s few farmers’ markets that are open all year long (every Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon). Lose yourself among the seasonal produce offered by numerous Maryland farms. Discuss the culinary world’s sudden fascination with crème fraîche with the cheese purveyor at Charlottetown Farm. And don’t forget to pick up a bag of cracked black pepper and old bay pickles at B’more Dills on your way out.
The Waverly Farmers’ Market is my favorite place to buy groceries because of its proximity and the freshness, quality and variety of its products as well as the feeling of community it instills. Also, if the market doesn’t have something I need, there’s a Giant a few blocks down and a small store called Thai Philippine Oriental Food on Gorsuch Avenue. that sells, despite the name, both Hispanic and Asian products, from dried chili peppers to Filipino sauces. It’s located between 32nd and 22rd Streets off of Old York Rd., right behind Giant.
A farmers’ market isn’t just a place you can go to buy your weekly produce. It’s a collection of ideas and initiatives that brings together a community. Walking through a market, you’re able to see how much a community cares about sustainibility, supporting local businesses and promoting good food. And most importantly it’s a reflection of the history and cultures of those that comprise it. The Baltimore food scene is brimming and about to blow, and there’s no better way to be a part of it then to go to its source: the people producing the food. So open yourself up. Set aside $5 every week and go to the farmers’ market and buy something you’ve never tried before. If you have no idea how to cook, let’s say, woodear mushrooms, ask the purveyor how he or she would cook it. We see it all the time — people exploring and learning about other cultures through food. You have No Reservations, Parts Unknown, and Bizarre Foods to name a few widely-known television shows that do just that. So why can’t you do the same? I implore you to burst open that Hopkins bubble in the most delicious way possible — eating your way through it!
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