Community Food Advocates of NYC

06/04/2026

06/04/2026

The Bill (S.7638B / A.8091B) just passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the New York State legislature this week!! This landmark legislation removes one of the largest structural barriers for New York farms to sell to their local public institutions, updating outdated food procurement laws that award contracts to the lowest bidder at the expense of NY farms, jobs, and communities.

Thank you to our long-term legislative champions and prime sponsors, Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, NYS Assemblywoman and Senator Michelle Hinchey, for your commitment to the vision of this bill. To the over 100 organizations who make up our NYS Good Food Purchasing Coalition, and especially the steadfast leadership from our partners at the Good Food Buffalo Coalition—thank you for your dedication, strategy, and partnership. As we well know, policy is an endurance sport, not a sprint—and we couldn’t ask for a better coalition to move this forward these past years. We are thrilled to see this legislation headed back to Governor Kathy Hochul's desk.

At a time when New York farms are facing rising costs, supply chain instability, climate pressures, and the loss of support from federal programs, the Good Food NY Bill opens pathways for local producers to access stable institutional markets in their own communities by enabling public institutions:
• Prioritize purchasing from New York farmers rather than defaulting to the lowest bidder
• Pay up to 10% more for New York products
• Consider factors such as local economic impact, workforce standards, environmental resilience, nutrition, animal welfare, and supply chain resilience in food procurement decisions

This bill reflects many years of collaboration with farmers, labor unions, food system leaders, municipalities, and food policy councils across New York State to ensure it reflects the diverse and nuanced needs of our food system. We invite Governor Hochul to partner with us and strengthen NY's food economy by signing the Good Food NY Bill into law, expanding fair access to local markets for New York State farmers and producers. Because our public dollars should be accountable to our communities, not just the cheapest bidders.

04/14/2026

Big news for food access and affordability in NYC! Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani just announced the first city-owned supermarket location at La Marqueta in East Harlem, launching an initial phase of five stores. A strong, early signal of the administration’s commitment to advance city-owned supermarkets as a core part of the Mayor’s affordability agenda.

Community Food Advocates and our Supermarket Access Coalition partners are playing an instrumental role in close collaboration with key members of the Mamdani administration to ensure the success of this major initiative – offering recommendations, essential analyses, and informing the development of the city-owned model as it quickly goes from concept to reality.

Liz Accles spoke with The New York Times for their feature on the announcement, where she is quoted describing this as a “critical first step” toward a network of city-owned supermarkets. This is exactly the kind of investment needed to meet this moment.

City-owned supermarkets are for everyone. Our team is eager to bring our expertise to this work alongside our incredible coalition partners and city leaders to help realize that vision.