Comprehension: Baltimore's Arabbers Keep Horse-Cart Vending Alive

Baltimore's arabbers, traditional fruit and vegetable sellers who hawk their produce on colourful horse-drawn carts, are the last horse-cart vendors in the United States. 

Watch the video and answer the questions below.  Decide if the statements are True or False.

1.  BJ has been arabbing for 25 years.
a. True
b. False

2. The fruit and vegetables are locally grown.
a. True
b. False

3. Daniel Van Allen hopes that there will be another four wagons on the streets next year.
a. True
b. False


For transcript and answers see below.

Transcript and Answers:

Mixed with the sounds of daily life, Baltimore’s streets ring with this distinctive melody.

It's the traditional call of arabbers , that's the name for fruit and vegetable vendors that sell their produce on horse-drawn carts.

At only 25, BJ has been arabbing most of his life.  He starts his day by loading his cart with local, freshly-bought produce carefully arranged by colour. 

"I got cabbage, I got collard greens, I got string beans…"

With veteran Lawlaw by his side, the men head off on what could be an 11-mile walk.

"When we finish, that's when we get on the horse. The work aint done till - that's when you know when it’s done - when we get on that ride and we coming home."

First stop: regular customers' homes, mostly seniors who can't walk to the market.
But they're happy to sell to anyone who wants to buy, offering their goods door to door and even to passing cars.

"It's convenient, they come to you. You don't have to go out and get it."

Though the origin of the word is unclear, arabbing has been around for centuries but in recent years it has struggled to stay alive.  Stables have been shut down for building code violations and animal rights activists claim claimed the horses are poorly treated.  With arabbing on the edge, Daniel Van Allen decided to set up a preservation society:

"We've gone, in the past few years, from one to two wagons after one of the stables was shut down for urban renewal and back up to eight wagons out on the street, and hopefully we'll have four more wagons out on the street next year."

That's welcome news for BJ, who says his love for the job has kept him out of trouble.

"Oh I'm going to keep on going until I can't walk no more.  We're gonna be around, we ain't going nowhere.  It's been around over a hundred years, this [expletive] ain't going nowhere."

In an age where more people are getting goods home-delivered, this centuries-old trade seems on the road to a revival.

Answers:
1. b
2. a
3. a

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