NYC Green Cart
Illumination Grant
The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund seeded the NYC Green Cart Initiative with a $1.5 million grant in 2008 to bring fresh produce to underserved New York City neighborhoods. A public/private partnership with The Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City and the New York City Department of Health, this innovative public health and economic development initiative has set a new national standard for health promotion and economic opportunity by creating more than 900 new jobs, offering microfinancing opportunities and providing neighborhoods with better access to fresh fruits and vegetables and healthier food choices. There are currently more than 500 active permits. Read more about developments in the program and offshoot initiatives in our Impact section.
Featured Vendor of the Month
Meet David James, who vends on the corner of Pitkin and Rockaway in Brownsville. His plums are delicious!
This featured vendor was shared with us by our friends at Eating Healthy NYC.
NYC Green Cart Fresh Food Pack
The NYC Green Cart Fresh Food Pack is a two-part collection of 20 recipes featuring fruits and vegetables commonly and seasonally found on Green Carts, along with a tip card and a kids card. Recipes are authored by renowned New York chefs, healthcare institutions, and Green Cart vendors and customers. With a run of 5,000 packs for the Spring/Summer and another 6,000 for Fall/Winter, the packs will be distributed through community-based organizations and at Green Carts. The primary goals of the recipe pack are to provide tasty, relevant, and healthy recipes based on fresh ingredients to folks living in high-need communities and to drive customer traffic to Green Carts. The complete contents of both the Fall/Winter [NEW!] pack and of the Spring/Summer pack are available electronically, too, for personal use.
Prior to producing the Fresh Food Pack, the Illumination Fund created the NYC Green Cart Cookbook (launched in March 2011), which is still available electronically here for personal use. Bon appétit!
Related News & Events
Football and Food Carts
02.02.12 News via The Wall Street Journal External Link
Weekend in New York with Produce Pete
11.13.11 News via NBC New York
