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Green carts on the move
New York City will issue 1,000 new permits for mobile fruit and vegetable stands in its latest drive against obesity and health problems among its residents. The City Council voted to issue the new permits for low-income neighbourhoods, saying a scarcity of fresh produce has led to high rates of obesity and other health problems.
Better access
City Council Speaker, Christine Quinn, said underserved New Yorkers would have better access to fresh produce by spring. 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.
Councilman John Liu said the bill was bad policy. “If people wanted this produce, the stores would be selling them and there would be vending carts on the street,” he said.
The bill had been scaled back after supermarket and store owners voiced opposition.
More than half of New York adults are overweight or obese and an estimated 700,000 New Yorkers suffer from diabetes.
While the rate of obesity is below 15 per cent in much of Manhattan, rates in less affluent neighbourhoods, including Harlem, South Bronx and Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, are over 27 per cent. — Reuters
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