The New York Times reports on that city’s efforts to bring fresh produce to so-called “food desert” neighborhoods. The city launched an initiative called Green Carts, which created licenses for 1,000 new food vendors (carts) provided that they sell only fresh fruits and vegetables and that they locate in the designated food deserts, such as a Fordham-area neighborhood in the Bronx.
The city has approved 1,000 new mobile food carts for neighborhoods in the five boroughs that have long been isolated from traditional supermarkets, grocery stores and farmers’ markets offering fresh produce at reasonable prices.
“There is an epidemic of obesity and diabetes among those who are poor,” said Linda I. Gibbs, the deputy mayor for health and human services.
So far, 200 Green Carts, as they are officially called, are now on the streets. “Already, people are telling us they’re glad we’re here,” said Michael Bracho, the 42-year-old proprietor of the Decatur Avenue cart, a downsized former Office Depot manager who describes his new occupation as “lucrative if you do it right.”
Some of the vendors who hit the streets last year complained about low-traffic locations, and it will take a while to determine whether there is enough demand to keep all the vendors in business in neighborhoods where processed foods are dominant. And some local merchants could see the carts as competition.
The carts do not accept food stamps, though a government-financed pilot program will soon provide $1,000 all-weather wireless terminals so 15 vendors can accept food-stamp debit cards.
The cart permits restrict operators to designated impoverished neighborhoods in the five boroughs and limit sales to raw fruits and vegetables.
Many distressed urban areas lack a full-service grocery store that sells fresh fruits and vegetables. Grocery retailers usually explain that the overhead as well as loss rate (from theft) are unsustainable for the area – they can’t make a profit. Convenience stores that do operate in these neighborhoods say they can only carry minimal produce because it will go bad before it’s bought.
New York’s cart program works for a few reasons. First, the carts involve virtually no overhead expenses and so can support selling just the one product – produce – rather than finding a way to make an entire grocery store profitable. Second, New York is a high-density city with lots of people walking the streets. Lastly, the demand for vending licenses to sell just about anything in the city far outstrips supply – there just aren’t enough permits to go around. So would-be vendors didn’t need any financial incentives to participate – they were happy to get their hands on precious new vending permits. (It remains to be seen whether all those 1,000 locations will have high enough foot traffic to support their carts.)
Tulsa has been working ever since the Albertson’s at Pine & Peoria closed to bring a grocery store, or least some fruits and vegetables, back to the north Tulsa neighborhood. Unfortunately, most of the factors that made it possible in NYC just aren’t present in Tulsa. There probably isn’t sufficient density in any north Tulsa neighborhood to support food carts. And there certainly is no excessive demand for food vending permits, which means even those that did want to operate a cart would have no incentive to sell produce, instead choosing something more lucrative (a taco cart at the bars at 18th & Boston, for one real-life example).
Nevertheless, the low-0verhead nature of New York’s Green Carts could potentially be replicated here. Food stands are becoming increasingly popular across the U.S. Right here in Tulsa, there are a number of taco stands up and down Lewis Avenue north of 11th Street, as well as Garnett Road. Bank of Oklahoma continues to support a bank at that same Pine & Peoria intersection by operating out of a (low-overhead) trailer, proving that if a business is willing to be flexible they can operate successfully in distressed areas. The Eugene Field area’s Harvest Market and the northwest Tulsa Blue Jackalope are also demonstrating new ways to bring fresh food to underserved areas.
What incentives can we provide to expand the use of flexible, low-overhead options for bringing fresh produce to neighborhoods across Tulsa?
[...] stores and the fresh produce they sell. This isn’t really a food equity blog, but since I recently posted on the topic this seems like a relevant follow [...]