Fresh-Deprived Camden Gets a Mobile Fruits-and-Veggies Store
By Mike DeNardo
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- A new mobile produce van made its first stop today, selling fruits and vegetables on the streets of Camden, NJ.
Deborah Polk was among the first customers of Camden's Fresh Mobile Market, a refrigerated trailer that will travel around Camden, giving residents a chance to buy fresh produce in a city with only one supermarket now.
Polk bought asparagus and "tomatoes, zucchini bread, spinach and cabbage."
The mobile produce market is welcome news to Mayor Dana Redd.
"The need is great because, as you know, Camden has been labeled as a food desert," she told KYW Newsradio today.
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The trailer -- bought with a $65,000 donation from Walmart -- will be operated by the Camden Children's Garden. "It's going to go to senior housing centers, community centers, churches, places where people gather," says Children's Garden executive director Mike Devlin.
Devlin says the Mobile Market will also provide education to demystify some produce, teaching residents what to do with (for example) the leeks or kohlrabi they just bought.
