Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is releasing a report today that proposes limiting the amount of fast food joints in the city, giving incentives to encourage healthier markets and mandating city agencies to purchase local produce. Stringer said, “Our foodshed is already broken and we need to fix it,” referring to the big picture of how food is brought, bought, sold, cooked and eaten in the city. Stringer thinks the city should give tax and zoning incentives to bring farmers' markets into areas lacking in healthy food outlets. He also called for schools, shelters and other agencies to be required to buy 20 percent of their vegetables and dairy products from sources within a couple hundred miles of the city. One food consultant said that the plan might be a bit unrealistic to the area's farmland geography telling the Times, “It’s a bigger picture than just apples and carrots.” Nutritional initiatives have been on the rise lately with the health-conscious mayor's calorie display requirements and the governor's talk of raising revenue through a "fat tax."
Photo courtesy Vidiot.
