With Thanksgiving break coming to an end, we’re all feeling a bit bloated and icky. My suggestion is that you make your way over to one of the Green Planet Grocery’s cafes and invest in one of their specialty drinks. You won’t regret it.

When it comes to providing healthy food, Green Planet Grocery is definitely a step up from Wegmans. The grocery store offers organic whole foods, grocery items for those with food sensitivities, high-quality supplements and vitamins, health and beauty products, pet food and my favorite: the bulk section. Located just outside of Syracuse, there are three locations: Cicero, Oswego and Fairmount. Green Planet Grocery is top-notch.

The store reminds me of Whole Foods, just on a smaller scale. The self-serve bulk section allows the customer to control the amount of food they want to purchase. The bulk section contains everything from seeds to nuts, dried berries, flours, grains, rice, split peas, lentils and beans. There is also an entirely separate bulk section that offers a variety of coffee beans to choose from, and there is a machine that grinds fresh peanut butter. This is the best part of the store.

I visited the Green Planet Grocery in Fairmount. At first, I couldn’t tell if the store was open or not. There were no cars in the driveway and the store looked empty through the window. Once I approached the door, I walked in to the fairly small market and immediately fell in love with it. Upon entering, I was greeted by a friendly staff member who showed me around the store.

Each aisle was stacked with incredible healthy options. I shopped around a little bit and purchased Honey Crisp apples the size of my face, a few Quest bars (yes, they carry Quest bars) and I then filled a container up with freshly ground peanut butter from the bulk section.

Aside from being ridiculously expensive, the organic Honey Crisp apples were larger than any apple I’d ever bit in to. They were absolutely delicious. I especially enjoyed the freshly grinded peanut butter. The texture was smooth and creamy, fresher than any other store-bought peanut butter.

The Green Planet café is located in the center of each market, serving fresh food and drinks on the spot. At the Fairmount location, there were a few tables and chairs around the café area. I approached the café counter, took about 10 minutes to make up my mind and ordered a pressed juice that I then took on the go. I created my own juice with fresh kale, apple, ginger, grapefruit, cucumber and celery. I liked being able to choose the ingredients that I wanted and was intrigued while watching my juice be pressed on-the-spot. The café serves a few special dishes and a soup each day. It also has homemade raw desserts that look phenomenal.

The café has a small, cool atmosphere. Every option on the menu is healthy and the people working there seem very knowledgeable about the health benefits of the ingredients. I was close to ordering a salad but realized it did not have chicken or meat, which was also pretty disappointing. Next time, however, I will try the tofu.

My green juice had a zesty taste to it. The flavor of the juice felt invigorating, stimulating and reviving. I would definitely go back and have this juice again, for it gave me more energy than a cup of coffee would.

I do not take supplements, but for those who do, this market has a wide variety of them, and they also offer vegan supplements.

Green Planet Grocery has a little bit of everything. The prices are very reasonable compared to Wegmans and Natur-Tyme. It’s clean, well organized and will give you the best for your buck. I highly advise you to check it out, especially before the winter pounds start to pack on.

Published on November 29, 2015 at 9:26 pm

Contact Callie: caweinst@syr.edu