US: New York apples and carrots now available in 750 New York City bodegas

New York State Acting Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker Tuesday announced that more than750 small grocery stores, also known as bodegas, in the Bronx and Manhattan will be featuring packages of fresh New York State apple slices and baby peeled carrots.

The effort, organized by Pride of New York members, works to increase access and awareness of healthy food choices in low-income neighborhoods throughout New York City. This effort also builds on the New York City Health Department's "Move to Fruits and Vegetables" campaign.

Snack-sized packages of fresh-sliced New York grown apples and baby carrots, marketed as "Grab Apples" and "Carrot Crunchers" will be available to bodegas customers in February for 50 cents each, less than the cost of a candy bar.

The healthy snacks are produced by Pride of New York member Champlain Valley Specialty of New York, a fruit processing facility in Clinton County. Champlain Valley sources its apples from other Pride members, including Crist Bros. Orchards in Orange County, Forrence Orchards in Clinton County, Fowler Bros. in Wayne County, and Northern Orchard in Clinton County. Products are distributed to the bodegas by Pride of New York member, Meadowbrook Farms, a Bronx-based dairy distributor, and the New York City Health Department will be providing some health education materials to participating bodegas.

The expanded marketing effort with New York City bodegas builds upon another successful effort with the New York City Department of Education called "Farm-to-School." The school program has worked with New York producers and distributors to expand the presence of Pride of New York products on public school menus. As a result, "Grab Apples," "Carrot Crunchers" and other New York products have been made available to children in 1,450 schools citywide, which serve 860,000 lunches every day.

Source: empirestatenews.net