‘Food is medicine’: Mississippi grocery store revitalizes its majority-Black town with fresh produce

On 2 May, J’s Grocery, a local staple since 1997, reopened after a year-long renovation that now allows it to carry fresh produce. Photograph: Noah Stewart

With the recent release of Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, Clarksdale, Mississippi, known as the home of the blues, has been thrust into the spotlight. But while the nation and world are captivated by a version of Clarksdale from more than 90 years ago, residents today are focused on the future.

On 2 May, rain and warnings of thunderstorms were not enough to keep people in Clarksdale’s Brickyard neighborhood away from the reopening of J’s Grocery, a local staple since 1997 that had been under renovation for the last year.