Fresh fruits and vegetables for just one dollar. That's the plan behind Healthy Dollar, a new business coming to downtown Flint in August.
"I'll have fresh fruit and veggies outside. I need to find out what I need to do to be able to do that, and fresh flowers," owner Kathy Jackson said.
Jackson, a Flint native, has spent the past 30 years working as a journalist all over the world . Now she wants to bring a taste of big city life to her hometown.
"I got it from when I was living in L.A., and I'm modeling it after the 99 cent-only stores. They're big traditional dollar stores, but they sell bunches of fruits and vegetables."
Healthy Dollar will take up the old Beholz Jewelry storefront on the corner of First and Beach. Renovations are underway, partially funded by a grant from Ascension Health. If the non-profit likes what it sees, Jackson could be in line for four additional years of funding.
"Do you know what we can do with that? We can get cooking classes started upstairs and it will help us get our produce in," she said.
As for that produce, Healthy Dollar plans to partner with Edible Flint to stay as local as possible. "There are a lot of farmers associated with them, so I'm hoping to get a lot of the food from farmers here in Michigan."
Jackson says it's all part of her vision to bring a more healthy lifestyle to Flint. "People have to change the way they eat. I really believe that a lot of the illnesses that are happening are caused by the food we eat."
If all goes as planned, Healthy Dollar should be ready to open just in time for Back to the Bricks this August.
While that might be months away, Jackson already has her marketing slogan ready to go. "You don't have to be wealthy to eat healthy no mo. Just come on down to the Healthy Dollar store. Holla!"
