Boston considers government-owned grocery stores after Atlanta’s success

Officials in Boston are considering whether the city should open government-owned grocery stores to make it easier to access fresh, affordable foods — an idea gaining momentum in New York City.

After holding a hearing earlier this month, City Council members agreed to study how other cities could implement municipal markets to close gaps in food access.

Consultants Ruthsay Luigon and Liz Brydon, Who called to listenHe did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Fox News Digital.

The Atlanta city-run grocery is seeing early success, sparking debate about the role of government

While Boston leaders are still exploring the idea, Atlanta It has already put the concept into practice, opening its first city-run grocery store earlier this year.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens told Fox News Digital that Azalea Fresh Market has served more than 20,000 customers since opening its doors on August 28.

“In its first month, fresh produce accounted for 11.6% of total sales, which exceeds the national average of 10%, and highlights the community’s demand for healthier food options,” Dickens said, adding that the turnout shows how strong the need is in a neighborhood “long underserved by grocery stores.”

“Azalea Fresh Market is proof that when we work together as a city, we can deliver real, life-changing solutions,” he added.

The early success in Atlanta comes as similar ideas are gaining traction elsewhere, including New York City, where the Democratic mayoral candidate is based. Zahran Mamdani He defended city-owned grocery stores as part of his controversial campaign platform.

Mamdani, a cocky 33-year-old democratic socialist, has put affordability at the center of his agenda to… Driving the largest city in America. He has campaigned on free buses, rent freezes for tenants in rent-stabilized apartments and city-owned grocery stores.

General grocery stores in Mamdani could have devastating effects on the city’s food supply

But not everyone is convinced that city-run grocery stores are the right solution.

“Boston flirting with city-run supermarkets is a bad idea,” Ryan Bourne, a senior economist at the libertarian-leaning Cato Research Institute, told Fox News Digital.

“The government doesn’t become Costco by advertising,” he said. “Private stores have expert knowledge about their sector and a profit incentive that encourages them to be efficient. Without these things, the public grocer is likely to manage poorly, and will only succeed in delivering food at low prices through widespread permanent subsidies.”

Taxpayer-backed subsidies or tax credits could turn public grocers into a “poorly targeted in-kind care scheme,” Bourne warned, adding that larger price-cutting subsidies could lead to “lines in stores, empty shelves due to shortages, and resale of products on black markets.”

Treasury Besent Warns NYC: No Bailout Under Mamdani – ‘Drop Dead’

“City-run grocery stores, like most city-run businesses, tend to perform poorly,” Judge Gluck, director of research and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told Fox News Digital. He pointed to a government-subsidized store in Kansas City that closed despite an investment of nearly $20 million.

“There is little justification for the government to compete with for-profit grocery stores,” Gluck said, noting that supermarkets already operate on thin profit margins compared to any major corporation. “Further erosion of these profits through subsidized competition will only make it more difficult for regular grocery stores to provide food to their customers.”

John Peluso, a research associate at the Thomas A. The Heritage Foundation’s Economic Policy Studies Center told Fox News Digital that government-run grocery stores are “ineffective in reducing the overall price of groceries.”

Kelly Loeffler: Mamdani’s socialist plans threaten New York City’s business heartland

“They need taxpayer support to operate on low margins in low-profit areas — and those costs are ultimately passed on to taxpayers,” he said.

He added that if cities really wanted to improve food access, they could achieve more by easing taxes and regulations on all grocery stores. “If municipalities reduce or eliminate taxes and regulations for everyone, free-market entrepreneurs will flock to cities like Boston, eliminating the problem at its source,” Peluso added.

Click here to download the FOX NEWS app

Peluso also argued that community organizations, not governments, are better equipped to help low-income families.

“State grocery stores are much less efficient at helping poor people than food pantries or other local nonprofits,” he said, describing the city-run model as “a kind of Soviet-style market intervention.”