S2 Ep738: ST. PETE EATS w/Wendy Wesley: Kelly Casto, Produce PAC

Radio St. Pete Podcast Archive

St. Pete Eats welcomes Kelli Casto of St. Pete's newest fresh produce store, Your Neighborhood Produce, in an area of St. Petersburg with limited access to fresh produce. Your Neighborhood Produce recently opened at 132 49th St. S. in the South St. Pete Community Redevelopment Area. The market is an extension of Kelli Casto’s mission to ensure neighbors can access fresh fruits and vegetables. The store operates under the Saving our Seniors umbrella, a non-profit Castro founded to provide discounted medical equipment. She launched Produce PAC (People Assisting Community), a delivery service, in March 2024 and now has a storefront that welcomes customers who rely on food assistance programs to mitigate soaring grocery bills. “I think bringing this into a community that is often overlooked and undervalued by our society will allow them to feel appreciated,” Casto said. “I want to break the standard that eating healthy is too expensive and people can’t afford it.”
Casto called the area around South St. Pete’s Childs Park neighborhood a nutritional food desert. Your Neighborhood Produce offers about 40 fresh fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, broccoli, corn, cauliflower, collard greens, lemons, limes, oranges and pineapples. Casto is now a certified SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) retailer. Feeding Florida provides a dollar-for-dollar match for benefits spent on eligible produce at participating markets.
ABOUT WENDY WESLEY Wesley is an award-winning registered and licensed dietitian/nutritionist who works to improve the health of the community. Her articles, interviews, cooking lessons and recipes have been featured in the Washington Post, ABC News Worldwide, The San Francisco Chronicle, Tampa Bay Times, Reader's Digest and every media outlet in Tampa Bay. Her specialties include budget-friendly home cooking, unprocessed food meal plans and menopause health. In her St. Pete Eats podcast, Wendy connects listeners with gardeners, farmers, chefs, food pantries and food policy throughout the sunshine city. Wendy Wesley, RDN 727-823-0393
www.WendyWesleyNutrition.com
www.StPeteCookingSchool.com
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Wendy Wesley, RDN

Registered and Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist
727-823-0393
www.WendyWesleyNutrition.com
www.StPeteCookingSchool.com