PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The City of St. Pete and St. Pete Free Clinic are teaming up to make healthy food options more accessible for people in the city. They launched a new program called the Fresh Pace Healthy Neighborhood Store.
They're adding fresh produce to neighborhood markets at an affordable price. The program is being implemented in areas that are low-income and low-access.
They recently opened the first neighborhood store at RAJAX Food Market. We spoke to the manager, Mike Jaber.
“With this program, because there’s no supermarkets around here, some people have a hard time getting to supermarkets because they don't have no means of transportation," Jaber said.
Lack of transportation is what makes this neighborhood low access. There are no supermarkets nearby, which makes it difficult for people who walk or bike to the store.
We also spoke to Jennifer Yeagley, the CEO of the St. Pete Free Clinic.
“It’s designed to leverage existing neighborhood infrastructure and the corner stores that are already here and empower them and give them the things they need to see healthier food at a lower cost for customers," Yeagley said.
She explained that food insecurity and nutrition are intertwined. The food is priced at an affordable rate for customers. The funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act. The city is allocating some of that money to improve food security in St. Pete. The Fresh Pace Healthy Neighborhood Store Program is part of that mission.
The city plans to expand this program to six stores. Lakeview Food Mart is the next place they will implement the Fresh Pace Program.
