NEW YORK, NY February 01, 2008 —REPORTER: A group of elected officials and grocery store owners spoke against the plan to distribute 1,500 additional food vendor permits for so-called "Green Carts."

They worry bodegas will suffer because the carts will have lower prices, thank to less overhead.

But Joel Berg, of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, says the complaints are misdirected and confusing. Especially since elected officials have criticized bodegas for not selling enough healthy food.

BERG: You can't argue on one hand, that low-income people just don't want fresh produce and on the other hand, this is going to be such a major competition that for existing businesses, that it's going to hurt their bottom line.

REPORTER: Councilman John Liu suggested starting with a dozen "Green Carts" in neighborhoods where fruits and vegetables are hard to find.