When I found out a new Whole Foods was opening near UMD, I was ecstatic. When I was younger I would go to Whole Foods with my mom as an outing. Mostly because they consistently had samples, but also because it’s fun knowing anything you buy is healthy (relatively).
I went on a tour of the Riverdale Whole Foods the week before it opened with Ally from my Spoon chapter. We walked through the store together commenting on all of the features and of course sampling some of their featured products. All I have to say is, if this is not food utopia…I don’t know what is.
Fresh Squeezed Orange Juicer
I don’t know about you, but first sign of a sore throat I get on that Vitamin C and start downing everything citrus that I can find. This orange juicer finally makes fresh squeezed juice easy. You pick your size bottle then at the touch of a button it fills with juice. After sampling it, I can vouch that these oranges and sweet and refreshing.
Whole Body- Makeup and Care Products
After looking on ewg.org I got way more picky about not only what was going into my body, but rather onto my body. I wanted products on my face that come from nature rather than from chemicals that I can’t even pronounce. The Whole Body section has a wide range of lotions and soaps that are natural yet still smell incredible.
Self Serve Candy Wall
Even the healthiest of healthy people still want a sweet treat. Alongside of your zucchini and quinoa salad purchase, this is an easy way to throw in some chocolate covered pretzels.
Self Serve Snack Wall
Maybe you know you have a busy week ahead of you, so you pack in the purposeful snacks. Here you can customize some trail mix or grab some nuts so you’ll never have to sit through class hungry. I personally recommend the dried mangos; you won’t be sorry.
Crush it Yourself Peanut Butter
In contrary to Jif and most commercial brands, this peanut butter is literally just roasted peanuts ground into butter form. Jif has sugar added, hydrogenated vegetable oils and mono and diglycerides (whatever that is). Even their natural line still contains sugar, palm oil, salt and molasses. After tasting the fresh ground peanut butter, I can tell you that any added ingredients are unnecessary. The peanuts are fantastic on their own.
Fresh Cheese
If you see a worker carving a colossal wheel of cheese, definitely go up to them and try a piece. You just can’t eat packaged cheeses after tasting this.
Fresh Breads With Slicing
Sandwiches are one of the easiest things us college students can grab for lunch. This bread station will let you up your sandwich game with some fancy breads (a great sanctuary for your fresh cheese). And these loaves don’t require any extra work compared to some Wonder Bread, because there is a slicer on site.
Pizza Bar
The last station of our tour was a pizza bar. If you do your grocery shopping here, I’d recommend grabbing a slice on the way out. It’s a great easy meal that will make your taste buds happy. Or if you’re feeling it go for a whole one. Why cook when there is fresh pizza?
Salad Bar, Soup Bar, Hot Bar
So say you don’t want pizza, but you don’t feel like cooking either. No problem, you have lots of options for prepared food. You can even get some hand rolled sushi. Grocery shopping has turned into a restaurant.
Acai Bowl Creation Station
Acai is shown to have many antioxidants, fiber and heart healthy fats. Creating a bowl for breakfast or a snack is a delicious way to reap the benefits of these berries.
The Tap
I love fun drinks, especially when it’s 90 degrees in the summer. The tap features nozzles with various iced coffees, teas and fresh juices. One of these iced coffees is an iced latte so no need to spend extra time at the sugar/cream bar pouring each individual cream packet in.
The Coffee Machine
If iced coffee isn’t your thing, you can easily get hot coffee too. There are these massive coffee machines that essentially look like Keurigs on steroids. From a screen you can select your coffee beverage of choice and enjoy it in seconds.
Even if you’ve never shopped at a Whole Foods, go check it out. If anything, you might find a cool snack or a fun flavor of juice to try.