They're known as the food deserts. Low-income neighborhoods in the five boroughs of New York City where people live below the poverty level amidst busy business districts. Fried fast food is the norm. Fresh produce is harder to come by.

Green Cart brings fresh fruit and vegetables to the poor in New York City.

That's why New York City launched its Green Cart program. It's one component in a larger program to fight obesity in the city. Get these green carts into the hands of burgeoning entrepreneurs, most with a knack for street vending, and they'll provide fresher produce than most other stands or bodegas in the neighborhood, making for a healthier community. When I headed to Bushwick, Brooklyn to do this story, I purposely checked out the closest bodega and supermarket to the Green Cart which I was profiling. Sure enough, the bodega had pretty funky vegetables which had clearly seen better days, and very little fruit.

The supermarket's produce was better but rather pricey. I started to get a picture of why the city was turning to green carts.

I spoke about the program with Cathy Nonas, the Director of Nutrition and Physical Activities Programs at the New York City Department of Health. She told me that the city targets obesity throughout the city, but explained there are greater disparities in low income areas where there is less access to affordable healthy food and physical fitness activities. Poverty, she explained, simply makes you more at risk for obesity.

Obesity is one of the only growing chronic diseases that exists globally. Among the illnesses that can occur are Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and high blood pressure. With that Nonas says, obviously comes additional health care costs and a reduction in the quality of life.

This startling statistic came in our conversation. She told me that this childhood generation might not live as long as their parents due to obesity. That promoted me to hit the internet for obesity stats.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just released new data that revealed obesity has somewhat leveled off in the United States, but it's not waning. Two out of three American adults are either overweight or obese, and about 17% of children under the age of 19 are obese. The study behind this information is being published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The green cart program is designed to provide healthier produce but implicit in the program is this entrepreneurial component. And there are a number of players.

The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund is providing the capital for the city program. Accion New York, a nonprofit that helps people get microloans. Finally, Karp Resources is providing business training for the new vendors. As they say, it takes a village.

Listen to Judy's story on the Green Carts in New York City.