PARRAMORE, Fla. – A mobile food market serving one of Orlando’s most vulnerable communities is feeling the pinch—not just from rising food costs, but from soaring gas prices that keep their operation moving. In Parramore, where access to fresh, affordable healthy food is already limited, even a small price hike could have a big impact.
Reduced prices for cucumbers, tomatoes, and other produce from Fresh Stop Mobile Food Market may be going up soon.
“How much longer do you have before you make the change?” a question was posed. “I’d say about a week,” said Glen Providence, executive director of Fresh Stop Mobile Food Market.
Providence said the potential change is driven by soaring gas prices.
“The unfortunate part is that it was so sudden. Literally, those gas prices jumped overnight,” he said.
The nonprofit said those prices have doubled the cost of gas for weekly trips to Plant City to collect product, and it’s also impacting other parts of the organization’s operations.
“Our generators operate our refrigeration and the water pumps, so on and so forth. That generator taps directly into the fuel,” Providence said.
Providence said Parramore is a food desert, and Fresh Stop has served up to 1,000 people in a single month. He said they also make stops in Osceola and Seminole counties.
“You think about what’s going on at the airport and the TSA shutdown—we’re doing our best to help out those who are customers of ours,” Providence said.
Right now, the nonprofit offers a five-dollar food bag, but Providence said that could shift to an à la carte style option.
He added that prices would still be lower than what customers would typically pay at a grocery store.
The mobile farmers market is planning to weigh their options over the next few days to plan out scheduling, locations to operate and pricing.