Four city-backed mobile produce stands start selling in St. Petersburg neighborhoods in December. The city wants residents to say where they should stop.

Four mobile produce stands run by St. Petersburg residents are due to start selling fresh fruit and vegetables in December. The stands will move between neighborhoods where fresh food is hard to find.

The city calls them Fresh Start Mobile Markets. Before they open, it is asking residents where the stands should stop, what they should sell and which days and times work best. The survey is on the city’s Fresh Start Mobile Market page.

What the city has announced

According to the program page:

  • four mobile produce stands will operate on rotating days, hours and locations around the city
  • produce goes on sale beginning in December 2026
  • most vendors should be able to take SNAP/EBT payments by spring 2027
  • each stand is owned and run by a vendor from the community, as their own business

The city has not yet published the stops, the schedule or the vendors’ business names.

Who is behind it

The stands come out of the PeliCAN (Community Access to Nutrition) Grant Program. The city announced the program on April 9 and opened applications May 1.

The grant gives each participant starting capital, a stipend, training and mentoring to build a mobile healthy food business. Applicants had to be St. Petersburg residents. The program targets what the U.S. Department of Agriculture identifies as Healthy Food Priority Areas, places where residents have limited access to fresh food.

Healthy St. Pete runs the program. It is a division of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

The money comes from the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg and Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, through the Healthy People 2025 grant program. The city’s government affairs page lists a $125,000 award from the foundation for the program, dated Jan. 8, 2026.

Local partners support the vendors, the city said:

  • Florida Central Credit Union provides business banking, point-of-sale software and financial training
  • the St. Petersburg Greenhouse provides one-on-one mentoring, business plans and help with state and local business rules
  • a commissary partner provides cold storage in a licensed facility and parking for the vendor trailers

The April release named Foodie Labs as the commissary partner. The current program page says the city “intends to partner” with one or more commissary businesses.

What it means for you

  • Have your say now. The survey asks where you want a stand, what you would buy and when you would shop. The city said answers are anonymous, and you do not need an account or an email address.
  • If you use SNAP, most vendors expect to accept SNAP/EBT by spring 2027, not from the first day. Ask at the stand.
  • Looking for fresh produce before December? Our farmers markets guide lists the markets running now, and more ideas are in things to do.

We will add the stops and hours when the city publishes them. More about the city’s health programs is at healthystpetefl.com.