#food-affordability

#food-affordability

Polymarket, the cryptocurrency-based prediction market, announced on Tuesday it would be opening New York City's first free grocery store, seemingly a nod to the mayor's signature policy. In a statement the firm said it hoped to empower every New Yorker to achieve food security for good, and that it had donated $1m to the Food Bank for NYC. The eponymous Polymarket store, however, will apparently only run as a temporary pop-up, and despite supposedly opening on 12 February its location has yet to be announced.

"The "Make America Healthy Again" movement has already made sweeping changes to what consumers see at the grocery store. The Department of Health and Human Services last year announced plans to phase out artificial dyes, and major brands have followed suit: Campbell's and General Mills have pledged to eliminate certain color additives from their snacks and cereals. PepsiCo's Doritos and Cheetos have " Simply NKD " products that are colorless, dye-free alternatives to their neon orange counterparts."

I think the question you're asking, and it's a really important one, is while we're asking Americans to reconsider what they're eating, are we actually asking Americans - especially those who are living on the margins - are we asking them to spend more on their diet? And the answer to that is 'no.

When pundits discuss new Mayor Zohran Mamdani's affordability policies, they talk about the benefits to his base of young supporters. They imagine how the call for cheaper groceries and rent freezes will help 20- and 30-somethings navigating early adulthood and parenthood. But Mamdani's core message on housing and food prices applies just as much to older New Yorkers, and his affordability agenda can deliver for them, too. They cared for us, now it's our turn to care for them.

Nestle says the Trump administration's efforts to withhold SNAP benefits from millions of Americans has made clear how fragile our economy is: "We have 42 million people in this country 16 million of them children who can't rely on a consistent source of food from day to day and have to depend on a government program that provides them with benefits that really don't cover their food needs, only cover part of their food needs."