FUN FACT: Rouge Park holds one of the largest urban sugar maple tree groves in the country, PBS reports.
Hey, it’s JB!
A City Council member is re-upping a proposal to ensure dollar stores in Detroit offer quality food options.
In 2023 I reported on the “dollar store effect,” a common trend across the country where dollar stores proliferate in low-income and Black communities, decreasing access to healthy food. In Detroit, I found that Family Dollar and Dollar Tree collectively racked up 2,400 blight tickets since 2020 and more than $740,000 in unpaid fines.
After the story, City Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway introduced an ordinance to put a moratorium on new dollar stores and require existing dollar stores to devote a portion of their retail space to selling fresh produce. She also influenced the transformation of at least one dollar store at 13433 W. Eight Mile.
Now, in a January memo to the city’s top lawyer and planning commission, she’s asking that a similar ordinance be drafted. I’ll keep you updated.
Also, last week I heard from so many people about brunch and the Clique! Read to the end to see what they said.
Dig in,
JB
- Last week, dozens of Detroit’s Latino-owned restaurants closed for a ‘day without immigrants.’
- Applications are open for the “Essential Ingredients for Starting a Food Business” workshop run by Eastern Market and In the Business of Food.
- Michigan Good Food Fund awarded $102,410 to seven Metro Detroit farms and food organizations to support their work furthering healthy food access, job creation, racial equity, and resilient practices within the state’s food systems.
- The Detroit Indigenous Peoples Alliance and Black to the Land kicked off Rouge Park’s sugarbush, or maple syrup, season.
- Trap Vegan Detroit is opening a grab-and-go and delivery location in Midtown’s Motor City Food Co.
- West Michiganders don’t like Detroit-style pizza so Buddy’s is piloting round pizzas for the first time in its nearly 80 years of existence at two West Michigan locations.
- The Schvitz Health Club has been expanding its food menu and now offers 9 a.m. weekend breakfast.
The weekly schedule of pop-ups, food events and more. Click on the calendar below.
- The Clique is hiring.
- Fixins Soul Kitchen is hiring front of house and line cook positions.
- Baobab Fare is hiring servers.
Reader Comments!
🎵 Kevin Reynolds commented on BridgeDetroit’s Clique Instagram post:
Early memory of The Clique was seeing George Clinton walk in and say hi to my Stepdad while we were having breakfast. I was like “wha!?! You know George?” The kid music nerd in me was freaking out. 😂
✍️ Another Instagram user commented:
I remember they had a bunch of napkins in a frame that were signed by customers… some big names on there but I thought it was especially cool and random to see Mos Def had signed a napkin at some point.
🎂 Rukiya Colvin said in an email comment:
I visit the Clique every year for my birthday to start my day, followed by some time on Belle Isle to reflect and take in celebrating another year of life…Some of my favorite moments there include the reaction I get when I take a friend to try food for the first time and them being impressed and give in to agreeing with me that it’s a stellar spot :). Or when I make a visit and a staff person greets me with a long-time-no-see. On any given day you can run into a “local celebrity” there and it’s treated as no big deal. A city gem for sure.
💍 Brittni Bee Brown commented on a Facebook post of the article:
“i’m hosting my wedding reception there”
