Sunday, July 13, 2014
City's Green Cart Initiative Judged An "Extraordinary Success"
Evaluators are calling an "extraordinary success" an initiative launched in NYC in 2008, with support from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, to make more fresh fruits and vegetables available in low-income neighborhoods.
The program, known as "The Green Cart Initiative," which made permits available for street vendors to sell raw fruits and vegetables, targeted city neighborhoods suffering disproportionately from obesity and diet-related disease and which had few grocery stores selling fresh fruits and vegetables.
The evaluation conducted by Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs found an increase in the numbers of green carts operating in targeted neighborhoods, where previously fresh fruits and vegetables were in short supply. In addition, 71 percent of customers in those neighborhoods who were surveyed reported increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables since shopping at a Green Cart, and 63 percent of customers are "regular" shoppers (at least once a week)....