When people ask me what my favorite thing about New York City is, this is my answer: Produce Carts.
For serious. Of all NYC has to offer, produce carts top my list. I can leave the gym feeling a little 11 0'clockish and go to my very favorite produce stand on the corner and get a banana for a quarter. I love it. No going through a drive-through, no trying to find the nearest safeway.
The other reason is because I live in a crappy neighborhood. The Bravo supermarket stocks 15 different kinds of bologna (no exaggeration), and their produce section is about the same size. Also, for some reason they have this huge box of extremely brown bananas underneath the regular produce. I don't know if people are supposed to buy those or what. But there it is. Anyway, point being that produce can kind of be hit or miss and the prices can shift pretty dramatically. Produce stands are usually cheaper.
So why does this come up now?
According to this article, NYC wants to issue 1,500 new street vendor licenses to put produce stands in poor neighborhoods. Like mine. This would be awesome. New food cart licenses haven't been issued since the seventies. And since it's easier to find fried chicken and liquor in my neighborhood than it is to find a reasonably priced apple, I think it would be good for everyone.
Some schmuck councilman, John Liu, said this:
"The theory behind this bill is if you increase the supply, the demand will increase, and that's likely a faulty premise," Council Member John Liu of Queens said in an interview yesterday. "If there was demand, it's doubtful that the stores would simply refuse to address it." He called the legislation "wishful thinking," and warned it would eat into existing grocers' profits without providing its intended health benefits."
What a douche.
The people of Bed-Stuy have obviously been demanding an increased bologna selection, but vegetables just haven't sold. Maybe because apples are often $2 a pound. You can get enough bologna for like 50 sandwiches for that much. Of course this is a whole larger issue about subsidies in different food industries, etc. But, Bed-Stuy demands produce stands!
In less political news, the next season of ANTM has started. Who else hates Fatima? Is she going to be this season's Heather?
Also this is episode one of Caitlin version 2.0. Thoughts?
