"Get Healthy at the Corner"

Jessi Howard looks over a selection of organic baby products at The Corner Store in downtown Plant City. Photo by Greg Fight/Tampa Tribune Staff Photo

By JAN HOLLINGSWORTH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 2, 2008

Updated:

PLANT CITY - When Joe and Cynthia Diaz left San Francisco three years ago, they were looking to start a family closer to East Coast relatives.

Joe Diaz, who was raised in Tampa, thought Plant City would fill the bill.

"It's a nice small town, a good place to grow kids," he said.

So far, they have grown one: Joe Thunder, who turns 2 this month.

As luck would have it, their new hometown also presented an opportunity to grow a business.

On the Saturday before Christmas, the couple opened the corner store at Reynolds and Palmer streets in the downtown historical district.

With its eclectic edible inventory of old-fashioned staples and progressive specialties, it is part rural general store and part Manhattan deli - with an organic twist.

It's not pickled pigs feet, however, and it's not pate. It's fresh local produce, whole grains and savory soups, salads and sandwiches.

"We want to promote better eating and let people find out that whole foods taste really good. It's not cardboard or rabbit food," said Cynthia Diaz, a moderate on the green-food scale who is not averse to feeding herself and her customers animal products.

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