New York City Green Carts: Who really uses them?

Introduction: In 2008, New York City established special mobile fruit and vegetable vendors (Green Carts) in targeted low-income neighborhoods with the lowest measured fruit/vegetable intake, highest obesity rates and limited access to healthy foods. Few studies to date have evaluated these new produce carts, and none have examined the characteristics of Green Cart customers including whether they are reaching their intended population.

Methods: We developed and piloted a 10-minute customer survey assessing customers’ demographic characteristics, where they live/work and their fruit/vegetable consumption. Trained volunteers surveyed a sample of 30 customers at each of 12 purposively sampled carts in targeted neighborhoods within Manhattan and Brooklyn (mix of carts accepting food stamps or not, near large employers or not). We compared shopper characteristics to the general adult population living within designated Green Cart boundaries.

Results: Overall, Green Cart shoppers (N=358 responses, 42% nonresponse rate) were significantly older, more female, immigrants, Latino or Asian (vs. Black and White), more employed, and ate more fruits and vegetables than the target population (p<.001 for all). They were also more educated (p<.001), but had lower income than the median in designated census tracts (p=.013). Examining only respondents living within Green Cart boundaries (79.6% of respondents), these differences remained, with the exception of employment (p=.133).

Discussion: Green Cart shoppers appear to represent well-educated commuters and a subset of the target population, particularly older Hispanic immigrant women. Further analysis will explore whether these differences can be explained by cart type or location or nonresponse bias, among other factors.