BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Two Boston city councilors have requested a hearing to discuss opening publicly-owned grocery stores in the city.
City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune and Councilor Liz Breadon ordered the hearing. In the order, they said "disparities persist" in access to food across Boston.
"Publicly-owned grocery stores can be structured to prioritize community benefit over profit, enabling lower prices, better food access, and stronger local sourcing, and may operate independently or in partnership with non-profits, cooperatives, or private operators," Louijeune and Breadon wrote in the order.
Publicly-owned grocery stores have been proposed in cities across the country. In New York City, Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has laid out his vision for a network of publicly-owned grocers across the five boroughs.
Mamdani's proposal has proved polarizing. In an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, John Catsimatidis, who owns independent supermarket chains in New York, called the idea "delusional."
"Capitalism may not be perfect, but it’s the only system that feeds the world," Catsimatidis wrote. "Under Mr. Mamdani’s vision, the corner bodega, the family-owned deli and the community supermarket would all disappear—replaced by government outposts that decide what’s available and when. That isn’t a vision of equity. It’s a blueprint for collapse."
The Boston City Council will discuss the hearing order on Wednesday.
WBZ NewsRadio's Mike Macklin reports.