NEW YORK, NY December 08, 2006 —A joint city and state program is trying to square off against the Dorito. And M&M’s. And even Jell-O. The front line in the latest Battle of the Snacks is the bodega, where city residents do much of their shopping, especially in neighborhoods poorly served by supermarkets. WNYC’s Fred Mogul went to one Spanish Harlem bodega to scout out the fight.

REPORTER: Sales clerk Fatima Aguirre at the Little Mexico Meat Grocery #2 is explaining to customer Martina Cantia how a new program is putting catchy little bags of “Grab Apples” and “Carrot Crunchers” in bodegas. Cantia is skeptical. But she hopes it will work, at least among the kids she knows …

AGUIRRE: She says that some of the kids – well, she’s Mexican – she thinks probably Mexican kids will come by, she doesn’t know about the others.

REPORTER: Aguirre says there’s a 4-year-old boy who comes in almost every day and asks for a free piece of fruit. She always gives him one. Other than that, she can’t think of a single kid she’s ever sold anything healthy to. It’s all chips, soda, cookies and candy bars. The only way it would ever change, Aguirre says, is . . .

AGUIRRE: . . .if the parents participate in what they eat, I definitely think they’ll start eating fruits and vegetables.

REPORTER: But 9-year-old Antonio Perez and 13-year-old Terence Avera are not with their parents. As Terence explains, they’ve come to the Little Mexico Meat Grocery #2 with a sense of purpose.

TERENCE: I came here with my friend to get snacks and candy. –Jell-O and chips, but we don’t got that much money. So we don’t know what we’re gonna do.

REPORTER: After much deliberation, Terence announced their decision.

TERENCE: We got two airheads and a lollipop for free.

REPORTER: The healthy food program officially starts today at dozens of bodegas in Harlem and the South Bronx. With state subsidies, storeowners are getting two boxes of the packaged apples and carrots for the price of one. That discount only lasts a month. After that, the fruit and vegetable easy snacks will have to compete on a level playing field with Cheetos, Mentos, and Twix bars.