Preventing Chronic Disease | Evaluation of the Placement of Mobile Fruit and Vegetable Vendors to Alleviate Food Deserts in New York City - CDC

full-text ►

Preventing Chronic Disease | Evaluation of the Placement of Mobile Fruit and Vegetable Vendors to Alleviate Food Deserts in New York City - CDC

Evaluation of the Placement of Mobile Fruit and Vegetable Vendors to Alleviate Food Deserts in New York City

Navigate This Article

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Acknowledgments
• Author Information
• References
• Tables

Listen as PCD Board Member Ana Diez Roux talks with author Kathleen Li about her winning paper.

Kathleen Y. Li, BS; Ellen K. Cromley, PhD; Ashley M. Fox, PhD; Carol R. Horowitz, MD, MPH

Suggested citation for this article: Li KY, Cromley EK, Fox AM, Horowitz CR. Evaluation of the Placement of Mobile Fruit and Vegetable Vendors to Alleviate Food Deserts in New York City. Prev Chronic Dis 2014;11:140086. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd11.140086.

PEER REVIEWED

Abstract

Introduction
In 2008, the New York City (NYC) health department licensed special mobile produce vendors (Green Carts) to increase access to fruits and vegetables in neighborhoods with the lowest reported fruit and vegetable consumption and the highest obesity rates. Because economic incentives may push vendors to locate in more trafficked, less produce-deprived areas, we examined characteristics of areas with and without Green Carts to explore whether Carts are positioned to reach the intended populations.

Methods
Using ArcGIS software, we mapped known NYC Green Cart locations noted through 2013 and generated a list of potential (candidate) sites where Carts could have located. We compared the food environment (via categorizing “healthy” or “unhealthy” food stores using federal classification codes corroborated by online storefront images) and other factors that might explain Cart location (eg, demographic, business, neighborhood characteristics) near actual and candidate sites descriptively and inferentially.

Results
Seven percent of Green Carts (n = 265) were in food deserts (no healthy stores within one-quarter mile) compared with 36% of candidate sites (n = 644, P < .001). Most Carts (78%) were near 2 or more healthy stores. Green Carts had nearly 60 times the odds of locating near subway stops (P < .001), were closer to large employers (odds ratio [OR], 6.4; P < .001), other food stores (OR, 14.1; P < .001), and in more populous tracts (OR, 2.9, P <.01) compared with candidate sites.

Conclusion
Green Carts were rarely in food deserts and usually had multiple healthy stores nearby, suggesting that Carts may not be serving the neediest neighborhoods. Exploration of Carts’ benefits in non–food desert areas is needed, but incentivizing vendors to locate in still-deprived places may increase program impact.

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Philip R. Lee Health Policy Fellowship and National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities grant no. 2R24MD001691-10. We thank Irene Yen and June Tester who also helped with study design and manuscript editing.

Top of Page

Author Information

Corresponding Author: Kathleen Y. Li, BS, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, Research Fellow, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1077, New York, NY 10029. Telephone: 214-886-2482. E-mail: Kathleen.li@mountsinai.org or Kathleen.li@ucsf.edu.

Author Affiliations: Ellen K. Cromley, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Storrs, Connecticut; Ashley M. Fox, Carol R. Horowitz, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.

Top of Page

References

1. Larson NI, Story MT, Nelson MC. Neighborhood environments: disparities in access to healthy foods in the U.S. Am J Prev Med 2009;36(1):74–81.CrossRef PubMed
2. White M. Food access and obesity. Obes Rev 2007;8(Suppl 1):99–107. CrossRef PubMed
3. Ver Ploeg M. Access to affordable and nutritious food: measuring and understanding food deserts and their consequences: report to Congress. http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/242675/ap036_1_.pdf. Accessed January 23, 2014.
4. Morland K, Wing S, Diez Roux A. The contextual effect of the local food environment on residents’ diets: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. Am J Public Health 2002;92(11):1761–7. CrossRef PubMed
5. Powell LM, Auld MC, Chaloupka FJ, O’Malley PM, Johnston LD. Associations between access to food stores and adolescent body mass index. Am J Prev Med 2007;33(4, Suppl):S301–7. CrossRef PubMed
6. Lee H. The role of local food availability in explaining obesity risk among young school-aged children. Soc Sci Med 2012;74(8):1193–203. CrossRefPubMed
7. Fox AM, Horowitz CR. Best practices in policy approaches to obesity prevention. J Health Care Poor Underserved 2013;24(2 Suppl):168–92. CrossRefPubMed
8. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. NYC Green Cart. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/cdp/green_carts_areas.pdf. Accessed February 20, 2014.
9. Lucan SC, Maroko A, Shanker R, Jordan WB. Green Carts (mobile produce vendors) in the Bronx — optimally positioned to meet neighborhood fruit-and-vegetable needs? J Urban Health 2011;88(5):977–81. CrossRef PubMed
10. NYC Green Carts. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/living/greencarts-vendor.shtml. Accessed April 19, 2014.
11. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Census tract level state maps of the Modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI). ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Publications/dnpao/census-tract-level-state-maps-mrfei_TAG508.pdf. Accessed January 22, 2014.
12. Kersten E, Laraia B, Kelly M, Adler N, Yen I. Small food stores and availability of nutritious foods: a comparison of database and in-store measures, Northern California, 2009. Prev Chronic Dis 2012;9:E127. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2012/12_0023.htm. Accessed January 23, 2014. PubMed
13. Ma X, Battersby SE, Bell BA, Hibbert JD, Barnes TL, Liese AD. Variation in low food access areas due to data source inaccuracies. Appl Geogr 2013;45:131–7. CrossRef PubMed
14. Liese AD, Barnes TL, Lamichhane AP, Hibbert JD, Colabianchi N, Lawson AB. Characterizing the food retail environment: impact of count, type, and geospatial error in 2 secondary data sources. J Nutr Educ Behav 2013;45(5):435–42. CrossRef PubMed
15. Ball K, Timperio AF, Crawford DA. Understanding environmental influences on nutrition and physical activity behaviors: where should we look and what should we count? Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2006;3:33. CrossRef PubMed
16. Gordon C, Purciel-Hill M, Ghai NR, Kaufman L, Graham R, Van Wye G. Measuring food deserts in New York City’s low-income neighborhoods. Health Place 2011;17(2):696–700. CrossRef PubMed
17. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy. Frequently asked questions. 2012. http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/FAQ_Sept_2012.pdf. Accessed January 23, 2014.
18. Bhowmik S. Street vendors and the global urban economy. New Delhi (IN): Routledge India; 2010.
19. Fuchs ER, Holloway SM, Bayer K, Feathers A. Innovative partnership for public health: an evaluation of the New York City Green Cart initiative to expand access to healthy produce in low-income neighborhoods. New York (NY): Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs; 2014. https://sipa.columbia.edu/system/files/GreenCarts_Report_June11.pdf. Accessed June 12, 2014.
20. Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Get Healthy Philly annual report 2011–2012. http://www.phila.gov/health/pdfs/2012AnnualReport_Nutrition_links.pdf. Accessed May 1, 2014.
21. Leggat M, Kerker B, Nonas C, Marcus E. Pushing produce: the New York City Green Carts initiative. J Urban Health 2012;89(6):937–8. CrossRef PubMed
22. Rundle A, Neckerman KM, Freeman L, Lovasi GS, Purciel M, Quinn J, et al. Neighborhood food environment and walkability predict obesity in New York City. Environ Health Perspect 2009;117(3):442–7. CrossRef PubMed