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.

Food prices are up 10% in a single year. Gas prices are up 48% since 2021. Energy costs are up 34% and used car prices are up 16%. That’s leading more people in the Tampa Bay area to trim their budgets with many facing food insecurity for the first time in their lives.

The issue of food insecurity remains prevalent in Pinellas County and will require collaboration, compassion and education to remove the stigma and find lasting solutions to this pervasive problem.