Some Chicago StreetWise magazine vendors are now selling fresh fruit and vegetables from carts in an effort to address unemployment and access to healthy foods in the city.

Jim LoBianco, executive director of StreetWise, which provides support and employment for Chicagoans facing homelessness, told DNAinfo Chicago that the Neighbor Carts program will have 30 carts located across the city by June. About 15 of them will be in food deserts. 

The program, in partnership with Neighbor Capital, launched last June with a cart at Ashland Avenue and Division Street. Other neighborhoods that currently have the vendors include Uptown, Little Village and North Lawndale, among others. Some of the future locations include the Loop and Lincoln Park.

Neighbor Carts recruits StreetWise vendors and also people from social service organizations such as Thresholds and The Night Ministry. Potential vendors go through 40 hours of classroom training and two weeks of on-the-job supervision. The vendors are paid between $9 and $11 per hour for a 40-hour work week, LoBianco told the news site, adding that selling fruit pays "significantly more money" than selling the StreetWise magazines.