Research article Special Issues

Evaluation of the New York City Green Carts program

  • Received: 12 August 2015 Accepted: 23 December 2015 Published: 24 December 2015
  • Access to fresh fruits and vegetables is a concern, particularly among low-income populations. Mobile vending is one strategy to expand produce availability and access to increase consumption. In 2008, New York City launched a mobile vending initiative, Green Carts. We report on the evaluation. Three waves of cross-sectional observational surveys of produce availability, variety, and quality were conducted during the summers of 2008, 2009, and 2011 in a stratified random sample of stores and carts comparing establishments in Green Cart neighborhoods (n = 13) with comparison neighborhoods (n = 3). Bivariate analyses for availability, variety, and quality comparing Green Cart and comparison neighborhoods were presented across years, and logistic and negative binomial regressions were used to test whether fruit and vegetable availability, variety, and quality increased in Green Cart compared with comparison neighborhoods, adjusting for clustering and neighborhood demographics. Establishments selling fruits and vegetables in Green Cart neighborhoods increased between 2008 and 2011 (50% to 69%, p <0.0001); there was no comparable increase in comparison neighborhoods. Establishments selling more than 10 fruits and vegetables types increased from 31% to 38% (p = 0.0414) in Green Cart neighborhoods; there was no change in comparison neighborhoods. Produce quality was high among comparison establishments, with 95% and 94% meeting the quality threshold in 2008 and 2011, while declining in Green Cart neighborhood establishments from 96% to 88% (p < 0.0001). Sustained produce availability was found in Green Cart neighborhoods between 2008–2011. Green Carts are one strategy contributing to improving produce access among New Yorkers.

    Citation: Shannon M Farley, Rachel Sacks, Rachel Dannefer, Michael Johns, Margaret Leggat, Sungwoo Lim, Kevin Konty, Cathy Nonas. Evaluation of the New York City Green Carts program[J]. AIMS Public Health, 2015, 2(4): 906-918. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2015.4.906

    Related Papers:

  • Access to fresh fruits and vegetables is a concern, particularly among low-income populations. Mobile vending is one strategy to expand produce availability and access to increase consumption. In 2008, New York City launched a mobile vending initiative, Green Carts. We report on the evaluation. Three waves of cross-sectional observational surveys of produce availability, variety, and quality were conducted during the summers of 2008, 2009, and 2011 in a stratified random sample of stores and carts comparing establishments in Green Cart neighborhoods (n = 13) with comparison neighborhoods (n = 3). Bivariate analyses for availability, variety, and quality comparing Green Cart and comparison neighborhoods were presented across years, and logistic and negative binomial regressions were used to test whether fruit and vegetable availability, variety, and quality increased in Green Cart compared with comparison neighborhoods, adjusting for clustering and neighborhood demographics. Establishments selling fruits and vegetables in Green Cart neighborhoods increased between 2008 and 2011 (50% to 69%, p <0.0001); there was no comparable increase in comparison neighborhoods. Establishments selling more than 10 fruits and vegetables types increased from 31% to 38% (p = 0.0414) in Green Cart neighborhoods; there was no change in comparison neighborhoods. Produce quality was high among comparison establishments, with 95% and 94% meeting the quality threshold in 2008 and 2011, while declining in Green Cart neighborhood establishments from 96% to 88% (p < 0.0001). Sustained produce availability was found in Green Cart neighborhoods between 2008–2011. Green Carts are one strategy contributing to improving produce access among New Yorkers.


    加载中
    [1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State indicator report on fruits and vegetables, 2009. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/downloads/StateIndicatorReport2009.pdf.
    [2] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005. 6th Edition, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, January 2005. Available from: http://www.health.gov/DietaryGuidelines/dga2005/document/html/chapter5.htm. Accessed June 10,2015.
    [3] U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. 7th Edition, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, December 2010. Available from: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/dietaryguidelines2010.pdf
    [4] U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, February 2015. Available from: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015-scientific-report/pdfs/scientific-report-of-the-2015-dietary-guidelines-advisory-committee.pdf
    [5] Larson NI, Story MT, Nelson MC. (2009) Neighborhood environments: disparities in access to healthy foods in the US. Am J Prev Med 36:74-81. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2008.09.025
    [6] Horowitz, C., Colson, K., Hebert, P., et al. (2004) Barriers to buying healthy foods for people with diabetes: evidence of environmental disparities. Am J Public Health 94:1549–1554.
    [7] Grimm KA, Foltz JL, Blanck HM, et al. (2012) Household income disparities in fruit and vegetable consumption by state and territory: results of the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. J Acad Nutr Diet 112:2014-2021. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2012.08.030
    [8] Chen A, Kwan M. (2015) Contextual uncertainties, human mobility, and perceived food environment: the uncertain geographic context problem in food access research. Am J Public Health Published online ahead of print July 16, 2015:e1-e4. doi:10.2105/AJPH2015.302792
    [9] Bunnell R, O’Neil D, Soler R, et al. (2012) Communities Putting Prevention to Work Program Group. Fifty communities putting prevention to work: accelerating chronic disease prevention through policy, systems and environmental change. J Community Health 37:1081-1090.
    [10] Healthy Food Access Portal. Healthy food financing funds. Available from: http://www.healthyfoodaccess.org/funding/healthy-food-financing-funds.
    [11] Johnson R, Monke J. Congressional Research Service Report: what is the Farm Bill? 2014. Available from: http://nationalaglawcenter.org/crs.
    [12] Harries C, Koprak J, Young C, et al. (2014) Moving from policy to implementation: a methodology and lessons learned to determine eligibility for Healthy Food Financing Projects. J Public Health Manag Pract 20:498-505. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000000061
    [13] Young CR, Aquilante JL, Solomon S, et al. (2011) Improving fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income customers at farmers markets: Philly Food Bucks, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2011. Prev Chronic Dis 10:E166.
    [14] Herman DR, Harrison GG, Abdelmonem AA, et al. (2008) Effect of a targeted subsidy on intake of fruits and vegetables among low-income women in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Am J Public Health 98:98-105. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.079418
    [15] Hu A, Acosta A, McDaniel A, et al. (2013) Community perspectives on barriers and strategies for promoting locally grown produce from an urban agriculture farm. Health Promot Pract 14:69-74. doi: 10.1177/1524839911405849. Epub 2011 Nov 18. doi: 10.1177/1524839911405849
    [16] Abusabha R, Namjoshi D, Klein A. (2011) Increasing access and affordability of produce improves perceived consumption of vegetables in low-income seniors. J Am Diet Assoc 111:1549e55.
    [17] Tester JM, Yen IH, Laraia B. (2012) Using mobile fruit vendors to increase access to fresh fruit and vegetables for schoolchildren. Prev Chronic Dis 9:E102.
    [18] Baronberg S, Dunn L, Nonas C, et al. (2013) The impact of New York City’s Health Bucks program on Electronic Benefit Transfer spending at farmers’ markets, 2006-2009. Prev Chronic Dis 10:E163.
    [19] Sacks R, Yi SS, Nonas C. (2015) Increasing access to fruits and vegetables: perspectives from the New York City experience. Am J Public Health Published online ahead of print March 19, 2015: e1-e9. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.302587
    [20] New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. NYC Green Carts. Accessed November 12, 2015 from http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/living/greencarts-vendor.shtml
    [21] New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Epiquery: NYC Interactive Health Data System - [Community Health Survey 2004]. [June 11, 2015]. http://nyc.gov/health/epiquery
    [22] Morland, K, & Filomena, S. (2007) Disparities in the availability of fruits and vegetables between racially segregated urban neighborhoods. Public Health Nutrition 10:1481-1489.
    [23] Lucan SC, Maroko A, Shanker R, et al. Green Carts (mobile produce vendors) in the Bronx--optimally positioned to meet neighborhood fruit-and-vegetable needs? (2011) J Urban Health 88:977-81. doi: 10.1007/s11524-011-9593-2. doi: 10.1007/s11524-011-9593-2
    [24] Li KY, Cromley EK, Fox AM, et al. (2014) Evaluation of the placement of mobile fruit and vegetable vendors to alleviate food deserts in New York City. Prev Chronic Dis 11:140086. doi:10.5888/pcd11.140086. doi: 10.5888/pcd11.140086
    [25] Leggat M, Kerker B, Nonas C, et al. (2012) Pushing produce: the New York City Green Carts initiative. J Urban Health 89:937-8. doi: 10.1007/s11524-012-9688-4. doi: 10.1007/s11524-012-9688-4
    [26] Dannefer R, Adjoian T, Brathwaite C, et al. Food shopping behaviors of residents in two Bronx neighborhoods. Aims Public Health, under review.
  • Reader Comments
  • © 2015 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com
  • 1. 

    沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院 沈阳 110142

  1. 本站搜索
  2. 百度学术搜索
  3. 万方数据库搜索
  4. CNKI搜索

Metrics

Article views(4679) PDF downloads(1100) Cited by(4)

Article outline

Figures and Tables

Figures(1)  /  Tables(3)

/

DownLoad:  Full-Size Img  PowerPoint
Return
Return

Catalog