Green Earth Health Market: From Family Roots to Community Hub
By BRIANNA FERGUSON
SUNY Institute for Local News
ONEONTA
Green Earth Health Market has family in its history, and it’s that homespun essence that drives the business now and into the years ahead.
“I think my father-in-law’s vision was that we were like ‘the hub’ to the community to come get good food and to socialize using the community room,” said Rachael Shaughnessy.
She now owns Green Earth with her husband, Michael. It was his family that bought the business in 2007 and began the mission that continues today.
Walking into the front of the store at 4 Market Street, it at first looks like your standard health food store, with a variety of local, fresh, and organic foods, along with supplements, essential oils, incense, candles, and more.
But its role as a café, coffee shop and community activity center gives Green Earth its soul.
“I think it’s great for the community. They have somewhere to go,” Shaughnessy said. “A lot of people come, and they hang out and work on their laptop and they drink coffee, eat lunch, and hang out here all day.”
The community room can surprise newcomers, as it is not what you first see. It was originally in Shaughnessy’s father-in-law’s plans for the business.
The weekly events include yoga, dance classes and drumming classes. Best of all—it’s free.
Shaughnessy said if anyone has an idea for a class, they are welcome to reach out.
“All about community and to bring people in,” she said.
It’s not uncommon to see up to 25 people fill Cynthia Marsh’s drum circle event that she’s hosted every other week since 2023. Marsh has been drumming for more than 30 years. The circle events can be magical.
“With the combination of when everyone is drumming together or playing music together, listening to each other, there’s these magical moments; a once-in-a-lifetime moment,” she said. “When there’s people dancing, it becomes this organic, in-the-moment experience that everyone gets to feel. And it’s really beautiful.”
Out of the drum circle energy grew Colleen Blacklock’s spin-off group for dancers.
“I felt lonely dancing by myself at the drum circle. So we started a class and got together weekly for about a year and a half. We developed different dances, like flash mobs and sequences,” Blacklock said. “We also do a lot of improvisation that we used during a lot of the drum music. The community room is the space that we use. The owners were very generous to allow us space.”
Classes aside, Green Earth is also about its regulars. Every day, there are those getting their coffee, breakfast, and lunch, and staples like vitamins and supplements. The store opens daily at 8 a.m.—Sundays not until 10 a.m.—with the grocery being open slightly longer than the café. Complete details can be found online at greenearthoneonta.com and on Facebook.
Shaughnessy has goals for the future.
“I want to do dinners, prepare meal kits for the café, and I want to do a coffee bar,” she shared.
This story was created by student reporters through the OnNY Community Media Service, a program of SUNY Oneonta and the SUNY Institute for Local News.
