A-Rabbers : Baltimore solution to food deserts

From the Baltimore Sun A-rabbers as solution to 'food deserts'

An arabber (or a-rab) is a street merchant who sells fruits and vegetables from a colorful, horse-drawn cart. Once a common sight in American East Coast cities, only a handful of arabbers still walk the streets of Baltimore.

Progressive, health-conscious people up in Michigan launched an effort to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to Detroit's "food deserts" - large sections of town with plenty of liquor stores and fast-food places but few or no supermarkets or farmers' markets. A small fleet of vendor-style trucks now bring produce to people who have neither well-stocked food stores in their neighborhoods nor cars for schlepping groceries from distant markets.

A $75,000 loan from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority got the Food Movers program moving in August.

People in inner-city Detroit, many of whom have high rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, are now connected with Michigan farmers. The Food Movers trucks are stocked with local produce.

We can do the same thing in Baltimore, without the trucks. We still have - though just barely - the a-rabs and their ponies. And we have opportunity.