Can Mamdani’s City-Owned Grocery Stores Really Address the Hunger Crisis? (with Joel Berg)

On this episode of Closed!, Mike sits down with Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, a nationwide anti-hunger advocacy and direct service organization headquartered in New York City. The conversation centers on New York’s proposed city-owned, privately operated grocery stores, which are intended to offer essential foods at roughly 30 percent below retail prices. Joel breaks down what the proposal could accomplish, where it may fall short, and why five grocery stores alone cannot solve a hunger crisis affecting more than one million New Yorkers. Joel also discusses the deeper causes of food insecurity, including low wages, rising rent, high childcare and healthcare costs, cuts to SNAP, and the limits of relying on food pantries and soup kitchens to fill gaps in the social safety net. The episode also explores how food access fits into New York’s broader affordability crisis, why food is often left out of urban planning, and what it would take to build a city where nutritious food is accessible to everyone. To learn more about Joel Berg and Hunger Free America, visit hungerfreeamerica.org. To learn more about Mike and Bergstein Flynn Knowlton & Pollina PLLC, visit bfkplaw.com