ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The application period opens Friday for St. Petersburg’s new PeliCAN grant program, which is designed to bring more fresh food access to underserved neighborhoods.
The goal of the new grant program is to make fresh produce more accessible to St. Pete residents in areas that either don’t have a grocery store or easy transportation to one.
The 17 different neighborhoods that are being targeted have been identified by the USDA as Healthy Food Priority areas.
Sarah Wiemert, Health Planner for Healthy St. Pete, said four applicants will be awarded the grant. They will receive a produce vending trailer and all the resources they need to start a mobile produce business.
“We’re giving them the infrastructure, the business training, and the administrative help to start a business being a mobile producer vendor,” she said. “They will receive a trailer, they will drive it around town and stop in neighborhood areas.”
The hope is that these mobile produce stands will help fill the need that residents have for fresh food when they can’t make it to a grocery store.
Wiemert says this grant is geared towards residents who don’t have prior experience operating their own business.
“The barriers to access this program are low,” she said.
Jen and Charles Little, who run ‘The Little Fruit Cart’, say they were encouraged to apply. They want to help bring fresh produce to South St. Pete.
“We have some friends that live in certain areas where getting to a supermarket and having that healthy, fresh accessible fruit and produce is not as available,” Little said.
Information on how to apply for the new grant is available here.