The Farmers Market at Harvard is a hidden gem. It runs every Tuesday, 12-6 pm from June 12 to November 20. Buying from the farmers market helps the environment and both supports and educates the community. Almost every student passes by it, mentally buried in their myriad of existential crises, but not many take the time to break away from their problems and explore it. Here's what to buy at the Harvard Farmers Market for all your struggling student needs.
You Missed Breakfast
Upon waking up at 12:19 pm, your body is calling for breakfast but the dining hall has moved onto lunch without you. Not to worry! Bagel Land masters the smooth and shiny exterior yet dense and chewy interior of a New York bagel with nearly ten flavors, from French toast to Italian cheese. Their various tea breads and brioche loafs would also make for a sweet start to the day – keep an eye out for free samples!
You're Throwing a Soirée
You've got the cocktail attire, some bubbly, and (if you're not in Canaday) the classic wooden floors and historic red brick. But you can't start the party without some snazzy snacks to match! Pick up one or more of the nine meticulously crafted varieties of goat cheese from Ruggles Hill Creamery, Red's Best ready-to-eat salmon bacon, some berries from one of the various produce stands, and a baguette from When Pigs Fly (or a more exciting loaf, like baby spinach, onion, and garlic ciabatta or mango pineapple, raisin with sesame seeds and ginger, to name a few) and Larry Bacow himself won't be able to resist your classy affair.
You're Pulling an All-Nighter
Midterms are coming! Or maybe it's the second week of classes and you just realized that not every week is shopping week. Either way, you're deciding to cast away your Sleep 101 training and stay up until the dining hall opens for breakfast. El Recreo sells coffee beans sourced from a farm in Jinotega, Nicaragua, so you can brew caffeine all night long. You might not be acting responsibly towards your sleeping habits, but at least you're being socially responsible!
No One is Giving Away Free Treats
There are no club intro meetings with free candy, there are no study breaks with J.P. Licks, and it's not 2 AM so you can't order insomnia cookies. What's a struggling student sugar addict to do? Head to Union Square Donuts for moist, fluffy, and objectively really good donuts ranging from a simple vanilla bean to brown butter hazelnut crunch.
You're Trying to Win Your Crush's Heart
They sat down with you once in the Berg. You locked eyes from across the yard. You know they're the one. But how do you prove it to them? Cook them a fancy, romantic, homemade dinner. Valicenti Pasta Farm sells a variety of colorful and flavorful pasta and ravioli, and all the ingredients are grown and farmed from New England. Top the noodles off with some from-scratch tomato sauce and maybe a sprinkle of that previously mentioned goat cheese, and you and your new boo will never eat at a dining hall again. Lady and the Tramp, anyone?
You Missed the Lobster Bake
Either you were like me and you got sick during orientation, or you ate out because you thought the school bringing in more lobsters than Asians sounded fishy (get it?), or you spent nearly 3 hours banging on the door to the dining hall because you didn't know it'd be closed. Whatever the reason, you're feeling major FOMO from the lobster bake. Hit up C&C Lobsters and Fish for what you know will be high-quality and fresh catches, and treat yourself to a nice personal seafood extravaganza.
You Want a Lil' Buzz But It's Tuesday
Monday was hard. Really hard. Like "two p-sets and two essays due and a pop quiz" hard. You need something to ease you into the rest of the week, but it's the middle of the day and that's just not socially acceptable. Instead of cracking open a cold one, pick up some HopCorn – homemade miniature cornbread bites baked in beer – from Corny Bread Company. Between these treats and the vendor yelling "free samples and corny jokes!" your soul will be warmed and your worries washed away.
The Lack of Crunch in the Annenberg Apples Physically Pains You
Every time you grab an apple in the dining hall you think this will be the one, it's a good apple, I can feel it. You bite into it, intentionally thinking of all the times you've ever eaten an apple to heighten the sensory experience, and the apple just doesn't crunch. It's soft. It's mealy. It's downright unappetizing. If it hurt you to read that description, you should consider buying apples from Autumn Hills Orchard, a fall-only vendor that grows several different varieties for a good price. And trust me – the crunch will be heard by your entire entryway.
You Decided to Join Vegitas
The dining hall's rendition of salisbury steak has led you to question the sanctity of meat, and so you've decided to join Harvard's vegan society because veggies are hard to mess up. But what are you supposed to eat for dessert when milk, cream, eggs, and all the good things in life are off the table? Try Off Our Rocker Granola's vegan cookies and granola! The sweet potato and almond flour based cookies come in around 5 flavors and are baked in small batches with love. Even non-vegans prefer these to the cookies from the Berg.
You Want Mexican But Not Felipe's or El Jefe's
For college students, any time is a good time for Mexican food. But even the most nihilistic of students tires of the constant trips to the same two token Mexican joints on campus. How about the Tex Mex Eats booth? Line up to the colorful tablecloth where a vendor crafts delicious and authentic tamales, tamal bombs, frito pies, elotes, and salsas right in front of customers' eyes. Don't forget to buy a 4-pack of frozen take-home tamales for when you start to crave them after a long Saturday night.
D-Hall Food Tastes Like Nothing
You're a broke college student and you straight up don't have the money to fund these kinds of ventures. The bland repetition of the dining hall is all you have to subsist off of. But it doesn't have to be bland! Invest in some maple syrup and candy from Warren Farm & Sugarhouse to elevate your breakfast and dessert experience, and buy some nice spices and herbs from Soluna Garden Farm to add some flavor to everything you eat. Pretty soon, you'll only kind of remember you're eating in a college dining hall.
Local farms and business have so many unique and delicious products to offer. Now that you know what to buy at the Harvard Farmers Market, why not take advantage of such an incredible, delicious, and sustainable way to enhance your college life?