I arrived at the Buford Highway Farmer’s Market on a Sunday afternoon and blended in with the afternoon church rush and a stampeding mob of eager families ready to get their rare and unusual fixes for the week. The sliding glass doors opened to reveal a heavenly produce section that looked like it could be close to the size of a football field. It was slightly overwhelming for a fruit and veggie fiend such as myself.

        The organic portion of the produce section lured me in with its extremely fresh selection and brightly colored, crisp greens lining the refrigerated walls.  I was impressed by the appeal of the organic foods until I noticed a costly price for a small amount of collard greens.

        Since the organic section was unnecessarily overpriced, I resorted to the non-organic produce section. Here, the prices were more than reasonable and provided several bargains on some products like ripe peppers and avocados. There were mountains of fruits and vegetables, some that I had never even heard of, which attracted numerous ethnicities by looking fresh and hearty. There was a greater assortment of fruits and vegetables than I had ever seen before in a produce market. For a vegetarian, the generous selection of tofu and other soy products was satisfactory.

        There was also a large section dedicated to an abundance of peppers and spices in bright, eye-catching colors. It was pepper heaven and perfect if you’re looking for a way to spice up your cooking. Even though the produce section was overcrowded, the navigable aisles made it less difficult to plow my way through, without crashing into carts or getting in anyone’s way.

        As I approached the end of the produce department, I couldn’t help but notice the sweet smelling aroma coming from the market’s bakery. The bakery included a pastry called manjoo, and many other cream- filled specialty items.The pastries represented countries from around the world and looked to be created with pure authenticity by the bakers.

       Next, I made my way to the gigantic seafood section. There was everything imaginable from salted jellyfish heads to wild-caught shrimp. Even though it was the second most crowded part of the market, just after the produce section, the workers were almost instantaneous to service me and kept the line of remaining customers moving promptly. The vast selection of marine life was cleanly laid out and was easy to view. There were even freshly cleaned whole fish available to purchase and tanks of live tilapia and lobster (if that’s what you’re into).

       The only downfalls I found were the massive crowd and jam-packed parking lot. It was somewhat of a mad house, however, I’m sure the massive crowd would have subsided as the day went on. I suggest visiting either really early or really late, especially on the weekends.

       Overall, the service and availability of checkout lanes made up for the ridiculous crowd. 17 out of 20 lanes were open to get customers out of the farmer’s market and over to the conjoined cafeteria.