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Fresh Direct: Fine, We'll Deliver To The Bronx, Take Food Stamps
By
Garth Johnston
Published May 18, 2012
Modified May 18, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published May 18, 2012
Modified May 18, 2012
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After critics lambasted the sweet, sweet government subsidies that online grocer Fresh Direct received to move its headquarters to the South Bronx, the company is trying to fix some of the more glaring criticisms against it. Come May 21st Fresh Direct will expand beyond the higher-income ZIP codes in the borough and, arguably more important in the long run, the company will now accept food stamps over the internet.
Currently Fresh Direct only serves Riverdale and Woodlawn in the Bronx, but they say that all ZIP codes will be served starting next week. And that's nice, though some residents are still not amused. "I don’t care about [FreshDirect] delivering to the South Bronx," one Mott Haven resident told the Daily News. "South Bronx residents don’t need their services. We have food carts, urban farms...Our concern is the use of the waterfront for a facility that will increase diesel truck traffic." Thanks to $82 million in city subsidies, the company is in the process of moving its operations to the Mott Haven waterfront.
That Fresh Direct was going to have to start delivering to the Bronx after the deal was made always seemed inevitable. The company's other announcement, that it will take food stamps, was not. It was also impossible until just last week. That's when the USDA approved a test program that will allow the company to serve a sampling of food stamp users in the Bronx—and then hopefully elsewhere. Fresh Direct says it will give more info about the new program "soon." Still! Between this news and Cuomo striking down that fingerprinting requirement, it has turned in to a pretty good week for food stamps.
Tagged
bronx
delivery
food stamps
fresh direct
online grocer
Garth Johnston
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