Municipal Grocery Stores: Public Ownership in Practice And Policy

Zohran Mamdani was elected Mayor of New York City based on a platform to make New York City affordable. His campaign included a proposal to create five city-run grocery stores, one in each borough, that would sell food at affordable prices by operating as non-profit public retailers. The idea of creating city-run grocery stores has ignited spirited debate about how New York City can make healthy food more affordable and accessible to all residents. The conversation has expanded to explore what role municipal governments should play in food retail, how publicly owned food retail could operate sustainably, and what public food retail might mean for equity, health, and competition with the private sector.

The CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute invites you to a timely and thought-provoking forum that will bring together business and policy experts to examine the opportunities and challenges of city-owned food retail, drawing lessons from past and current public-sector food access efforts. Join us to discuss how cities like New York can reshape their food systems to promote justice and affordability.

Panelists:
Ruby J. Ferguson, Food Equity Policy Lead, Greater Chicago Food Depository
Errol Schweizer, Member of the IPES-Food panel and former Whole Foods Market executive global grocery coordinator, Project NOSH Grocery Industry Top 50, presenter and co-founder of The Checkout podcast
William F. (Bill) Moore, Former Director and CEO of the U.S. Defense Commissary Agency
Laurie Prickett, Senior Vice President of Economic Development, Invest Atlanta

Respondents:
Lauren Drumgold, Policy Advisor, Mayor’s Office of Food Policy
Bianca Bockman, Director, Our Food, RiseBoro Community Partnership
Andrina Sanchez, Communications Manager, Advancement, GrowNYC

Moderator:
Nevin Cohen, Director, CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, and Associate Professor, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy