With Bilal Mahmood’s Affordable Groceries Act shut down since July, the District 5 supervisor is back with a new plan for cheaper groceries: a produce buyers club.
The one-year pilot program, dubbed the Grocery Affordability Initiative, would allow independent grocers in Mahmood’s district to join a group purchasing organization. That organization would buy produce in bulk, which should mean cheaper wholesale costs are passed on to consumers.
Residents in District 5, which includes the Tenderloin and Fillmore, could see the price of staples decline significantly.
The pilot plan would benefit more than just the district’s low-income residents, Mahmood said. “Everyone who walks into these stores will be able to buy bananas for a lower price.”
The initiative follows in the footsteps of Mahmood’s Affordable Groceries Act, which was shut down by Mayor Daniel Lurie and did not make it to a vote due to backlash from business owners. That proposal aimed to increase access to groceries and pharmacies by penalizing vacant grocery storefronts and removing barriers for establishing grocery stores.
Mahmood says the new pilot program, like its predecessor, would help the parts of District 5 like the Tenderloin and Fillmore that qualify as food deserts because they lack full-service grocery stores. Residents there often travel to other parts of the city, or depend on corner stores for fresh produce.
“We didn’t want to give up,” Mahmood said. “We can open new stores but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to be affordable. There’s a bigger issue about large chains displacing local grocers with more competitive prices.”
If approved, the affordability initiative could launch in the next eight to nine months. Under the new purchasing organization, grocers in District 5 could lower their wholesale costs by around 10% and lower the cost to consumers by up to 25%, Mahmood’s office estimated.
Saikat Chakrabarti, the former congressional candidate, gave $50,000 to kick off the design phase of the pilot — Chakrabarti also donated to Mahmood’s election. Jade Quizon, director of Food and Agriculture Action Coalition Toward Sovereignty, which would run the project, said the seed funding is enough to get started.
The initiative needs another $200,000 for data analysis and compliance tracking, but Mahmood said he is confident his office can raise the rest.
The program is based on similar models in Paris and Philadelphia but would be the first of its kind to operate on a localized neighborhood level.
Group leaders would negotiate with wholesalers on behalf of grocers. Nonprofits Booker T. Washington Community Service Center and Farming Hope have already agreed to participate.
“These small mom-and-pop grocery markets are in the community and we know they aren’t afforded the same opportunity as big corporations to have access to wholesale prices,” Quizon said.
She said the goal is to focus on buying in bulk roughly a dozen key pantry items that all participating grocers stock. This would likely include tomatoes, onions, potatoes and milk, Quizon said.
Mahmood said the goal is to implement the program in every city neighborhood. While people seem to think “the affordability crisis is intractable,” he said, “we just have to think a little bit outside the box.”
