City Council is considering instating publicly-owned grocery stores in Boston amid food pantry closures and cuts to Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits.

In the council’s weekly meeting Oct. 8, Councilor Liz Breadon and Council President Ruthzee Louijeune presented a hearing order to discuss how publicly-owned grocery stores could address the city’s food insecurity issues.

When introducing the hearing order, Breadon said city-owned grocery stores are a tool to “strengthen [Boston’s] food infrastructure.”  

Breadon said many parts of Boston, including her own district, are “food deserts” — urban areas with limited access to affordable or healthy food. 

Even if grocery stores are nearby, high grocery prices may prevent them from being accessible to poorer residents, Breadon said. 

“We live in the richest country in the world, and there are children and young people and elders going to bed hungry when there’s an abundance of food,” Breadon said. 

During the meeting, Louijeune pointed to Atlanta, which is opening a city-supported grocery store after large grocers have abandoned Black neighborhoods.

“A hearing can give us the opportunity to examine what we can do better as a city,” she said. 

According to a report by the Greater Boston Food Bank and Mass General Brigham, 37% of Massachusetts households reported experiencing food insecurity in 2024 — a number which has steadily increased from 2019 when 19% of households experienced food insecurity. 

Kate Adams, the senior public policy manager at the GBFB, said high costs of housing and shipping food as well as insufficient pay contribute to “alarming rate” of food insecurity.

“We see so many single parents working so hard, sometimes two or three jobs, and just not quite able to get by and needing to come to our network of food pantries,” Adams said. 

Cuts to SNAP in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed earlier this year have exacerbated the issue of food insecurity in Massachusetts, Adams said. 

A September report from Boston Indicators estimated at least 40,000 adults in Greater Boston are at risk of partial or full cuts to their SNAP benefits. 

Adams said restrictions on SNAP have resulted in more people depending on food pantries, including households who have never needed food assistance before.

Despite doubling operations since 2019, GBFB and its network have not been able to completely meet rising demands for food, Adams said. 

“There are always going to be more people than we are able to serve,” she said. 

Amber Birkett, a volunteer at the Allston Brighton Food Pantry and a senior at Boston University, said people have been asking to take extra food for larger families.

“We have to be fair to everybody,” Birkett said. “But it’s tough seeing that, as a volunteer, because I just wish I could help more.”

During this time of need in Boston, Adams said, the Trump administration’s cuts to grants and other pressures on food access organizations have led to some nonprofits closing down. 

“Nonprofits in the food access space, overall, have been under pressure,” she said. 

Daily Table, a nonprofit grocery store with multiple locations around Greater Boston, announced an end to operations in a May press release. The board of directors blamed COVID-19 challenges, high food prices and uncertain funding for their sudden closures. 

At its upcoming Oct. 22 meeting, City Council intends to discuss the issues contributing to food insecurity in Boston, evaluating publicly-owned grocery stores and other possible solutions.

Based on Birkett’s own observations at the AB Food Pantry, she said a city-owned grocery store could be a helpful resource in the community. 

“They’re not just coming in here for a meal, like they just need food right now,” Birkett said. “They need groceries.”