"V" for Victorious Veggie Vendors

New Yorkers may see 1500 new fruit and vegetable vending carts over the next several years-- if Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn win approval of their plan. Today's New York Times reports that currently there are 4100 mobile food carts operating in the city, but only 10% sell fresh fruit and vegetables.
The point is to encourage healthy eating by city residents.

One might think that this is another example of the rich getting richer. After all, New York City is one of the most densely populated cities in the U.S. Many residents live without a car, relying on public transportation and walking. But even with all that exercise, it seems that some people aren't getting their 5 servings a day. The Green Cart program would bring fruit and veggie carts to city neighborhoods that have particularly low fruit and vegetable consumption rates.

This is something that could do even more good if it were available city-wide. There is certainly a line of would-be vendors. According to NY1 News, there are more than 2,500 people on the waiting list to become vendors. But under the theory that ya-gotta-start-somewhere, the Green Cart proposal has been aimed at neighborhoods with little in the way of fresh produce for sale. The cry of "unfair competition," which keeps sidewalk commerce out of so many places, seems little more than a whisper in this situation. Implementation of the Green Cart program will be assisted the Street Vendor Project, which is directed by Sean Basinski. See http://streetvendor.netfirms.com/public_html/