battling obesity one city corner at a time

March 1, 2008 at 12:02 am | Posted in guest post, Health & Healing, nutrition | 2 Comments

the ny city council has heard and answered our cry for more fresh fruits and vegetables where we live! want to know their answer? wait for it…

wait for it…

fruit carts on our corners!

new york city will issue 1,000 new permits for mobile fruit and vegetable stands in its latest drive against obesity and unhealthiness among its residents.

there’s still no word on whether or not this is in conjunction with a broader plan with things like limiting the number of fast death food restaurants that can occupy a single block or more green spaces for outdoor activity where we live (see how i was nice enough not to even bring up the availability of organic and/or local produce!)

There are more than 4,000 permits for so-called green carts in New York and the stands are a common sight in wealthy Manhattan.

But low-income New Yorkers are left with little choice but to buy unhealthy “convenience” foods, most of which are packaged and processed, supporters of the bill said…

While the rate of obesity is below 15 percent in much of Manhattan, rates in less affluent neighborhoods, including Harlem, South Bronx and Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, are over 27 percent. (source)

not that I’ve spent much time in “wealthy manhattan,” but i don’t think i’ve ever actually seen a produce cart there. in manhattan, yes, wealthy manhattan – jury’s still out.

something tells me that there’s more to the lower obesity rate than the produce carts. perhaps city council recognized that, but couldn’t resist the lobbying from local supermarket owners that pushed them to scale the bill back.

i’ll probably think twice about buying mangoes on a bed-stuy corner when the trash cans are overflowing from not being emptied in days. but, in all seriousness, i don’t think it’s a bad idea. i hope that they work out a way to also accept ebt cards for families receiving government assistance. not too long ago, a friend actually threw out the idea of running her own produce cart because there weren’t really in brooklyn. looks like she may have competition coming soon…

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 contributed by nite*vision