Why New Yorkers Voted For Public Grocery Stores

Food & DrinkWhy New Yorkers Voted For Public Grocery Stores, ExplainedByErrol Schweizer, Contributor

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights

Errol Schweizer has the essential take on the grocery industry

Zohran Mamdani (D-NY) speaks to

More supporters during an election night gathering. (Photo by Michael M

Santiago/Getty Images)Getty Images The Democratic mayoral primary victory of New York City’s Zohran Mandani has attracted global attention

The 33 year old from Queens won due to an impressive grassroots field campaign and a focus on economic justice issues

At the top of that agenda are publicly-owned grocery stores, which would be a first for the sprawling metropolis

But New York City already has thousands of grocery stores

Why would America’s largest city want to road test such a plan

Mamdani’s posal would establish a pilot gram of municipal grocery stores with the goal of viding affordable groceries to New Yorkers

Recent polling from Data for gress and Batul Hassan of the Climate and Community Institute (CCI) shows the idea resonating with New Yorkers

Grocery costs are a top concern for New Yorkers

Four out of five households in New York report finding it harder to afford groceries over the last year

More than half of all families struggle to cover basic expenses

These household economic strains are at crisis levels, and the private sector cannot solve for them in the current economic climate

Such are usually dominated by a handful of companies

According to CCI’s Hassan, the resources needed to establish a public grocery gram are infrastructure within the city’s control

Grocery store planning and rollout would be driven by communities, incorporating the food preferences of people in the neighborhoods

But publicly owned grocery stores are quite common and already exist at scale—in the U

Every branch of the military has its own public grocery system, called an exchange or PX, that vides goods and services for enlistees

These include groceries, commissaries, department stores, gas stations and convenience stores, the same services that many full service grocers vide for civilians

This size enables commissaries to leverage supply chain efficiencies at the level of any national grocery chain

Grocery chain, it would rank in the top 20 by sales nationally

How much of a stretch would it be to municipalize such the PX model, especially if there were a large scale, committed effort to build multiple locations quickly and create the efficiencies of scale to make it viable

Lower costs and massive fits are the result of massive sales volumes that give bigger chains market power with suppliers, especially due to lax enforcement of antitrust laws such as Robinson Patman

This is also why smaller independent grocery operators, such as those that dominate the New York Metro area, typically have higher prices and high operating costs. a post exchange, a civilian-facing public grocery option could take some of these costs out of the consumer price equation

BELVOIR, VA - MAY 31: Commissary at Ft

Belvoir, VA. (Photo by Bill O'Leary/The

More Washington Post via Getty Images)The Washington Post via Getty Images Military exchanges still rely on the same supply chains as the private sector, stocking familiar brands and ducts

For example, the wholesaler SpartanNash, which was just acquired by C&S Wholesale, is a large supplier to military exchanges

A network of New York City public grocery stores could leverage city purchasing power to negotiate strong wholesale contracts and keep markups low, as well as buying food directly from local growers and ducers in the Northeast

And public grocers could require vendors to meet values-based purchasing standards, such as those being implemented in New York City’s public schools

Such standards emphasize healthier, whole food options, fair wages for workers, environmental impacts and diversifying supply chains

In South Korea, such public investment in “precautionary” supply chains ensures that public institutions have access to healthy, safe and sustainably grown ducts

In New York City, it could mean healthier options are also the most affordable, turning typical grocery value chains on their head

A public grocery option would not be a utility, which would imply a monopoly

New York would still have a thriving and diverse grocery sector, from Food Bazaar to Trader Joe’s, to thousands of immigrant-owned bodegas, even Gristedes- if they want to stay open

Nor would it be a charity vehicle, dependent on donated or lower quality ducts from grocers, wholesalers and cessors

A public grocery sector could instead be a backstop, a vital public service and an expansion of the safety net in the tradition of the New Deal, one that bridges affordability and access for cash-strapped New Yorkers

With the Trump Administration dering a one-two-three punch of raising grocery prices through tariffs and trade wars, sharply cutting back on SNAP food assistance and not enforcing antitrust laws to ensure fair competition, a public grocery option presents a ven, pragmatic and timely policy solution

In an era of constant supply chain crisis and disruption, Mamdani’s idea for public grocers is not any more radical than the Pentagon

But it has captured the imagination of hard-working New Yorkers hungry for change

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