NYC grocery plan could be mimicked to offer cheaper food to struggling families

People Before Profit has called on the Irish government to follow in the footsteps of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani through a food subsidy plan that prioritises families and producers over profits

News Stephen Holland Local Democracy Reporter 16:32, 29 Jul 2026 View Image New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds up bananas as he speaks at a food distribution center on July 27, 2026 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

A New York public grocery plan shows that governments can directly intervene to reduce food costs, but one Dublin councillor is arguing Ireland should take things even further.

Plans from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to establish publicly funded grocery stores offering essential goods at prices up to 30% below normal retail prices have been welcomed by People Before Profit, but Councillor Conor Reddy believes Ireland can take this idea to the next level. With Irish residents facing the impact of a cost of living crisis, he’s suggesting a way to address the 44% of Irish parents who say they have skipped meals or reduced portion sizes in order to keep food on the table for their children.

In last year’s Alternative Budget from People Before Profit, the party proposed a pilot programme of five public owned grocery stores. The proposal was that these state-run establishments would sell a basket of essential goods at reduced prices, alongside measures to develop a new relationship between the public sector, farmers and food producers to ensure sustainability and fair prices.

It also included a publicly backed food distribution hub and aggregator. People Before Profit stated this would give farmers and producers greater certainty about the price they receive for their produce, while allowing the State to support lower prices for consumers.

They suggest the State could subsidise this model, as there is already a precedent for large-scale public intervention in response to inflation. In the wake of the fuel protests , they also call for support to be offered to farmers and hauliers as well as working people to “buffer the effects of rapidly rising prices”.

“Zohran Mamdani deserves enormous credit for showing that governments do not have to stand back while people struggle to afford the basics. Our proposal is about providing cheaper groceries, but it is also about building a food system that works for ordinary people, for farmers and for public health,” Cllr Reddy stated.

He pointed to the more than 300,000 households who are arrears on energy bills who are simultaneously dealing with food, housing and other essential costs rising that are placing severe pressure on people.

“Access to healthy, affordable food should not be treated as a luxury. It is something that can and should be guaranteed by the State, particularly in a country with the wealth and prosperity that exists in Ireland,” Cllr Reddy continued.

“The fact that children are going without and families are skipping meals is a total indictment of the system we have built. It is not working for ordinary people, just as the housing system is not working, just as so many of our public services are failing to deliver what we need.

“It's time to look at the very foundations of that system and at how we meet basic needs. A society is nothing if it cannot meet the basic needs of its members.

“Instead of another giveaway budget for big business and the rich, support should be directed towards the people who actually need it. Last year we saw fast-food chains benefit massively from the VAT reduction for hospitality, while families continued to struggle with the cost of groceries.”

People Before Profit are suggesting their proposal be funded through a Public Nutrition Levy on the profits of the largest grocery retailers and fast-food chains. They have highlighted the five largest grocery retailers paying approximately €28 million in corporation tax in 2023, which implies taxable profits of at least €224 million.

The party is also calling for greater transparency around the profits of large grocery retailers and fast-food corporations, many of whom do not publish clear, standalone figures for their Irish operations. People Before Profit intends to develop the proposal further in this year’s Alternative Budget, including more detailed costings and options for supporting fair prices for producers while keeping prices low for consumers.

With a doctorate in Inclusion Health Immunology examining the biological and social foundations of health inequalities (TCD 2025), Cllr Reddy said affordable nutritious food must be viewed as a critical public health intervention as well as an economic one.

“People on lower incomes and people from poorer backgrounds are more likely to die early. They are more likely to be overweight, more likely to experience nutritional deficiencies and more likely to develop chronic illnesses. Social inequalities translate into health inequalities. Access to high quality nutritious food is one way of addressing those inequalities and improving overall population health,” he said.

“Food prices are increasingly vulnerable to climate shocks, war and disruption to global supply chains. In an unstable world, we need to be able to look after the basic needs of our population. This means breaking the mould and being willing to experiment with radical policies.

“A public grocery network could provide affordable essentials, stability for producers and help in the transition towards a more sustainable food system.

“This is about taking profit out of the provision of basic necessities and beginning to build a food system organised around human need.”

This content is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme

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