The Boston City Council is considering whether the city should play a more active role in keeping neighborhood grocery stores open or even run one itself.
The conversation comes as community-based grocers like the Dorchester Food Co-op face mounting challenges.
Interim General Manager Michael Valente said funding has become harder to come by.
“Grants are still there, but they’re not as readily available they once were,” Valente said.
The co-op, which relies on both grants and community sales, recently warned members it might have to close after cuts to state and federal support programs.
Another local store, Daily Table, shut down all of its four locations in May, prompting concerns about access to affordable food in Boston’s neighborhoods.
Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune said the closures are a wake-up call.
Two grocery stores have recently closed in Worcester, and city councilors are considering a change.
“I hear the alarm, loud and clear, when the Daily Table closes in neighborhoods, and residents are panicked and don’t know what to do,” she said. “Our responsibility is ‘How are we responding to the everyday pocketbook issues that our residents here face?’ Food and food insecurity is one of them.”
Louijeune and fellow Boston City Councilor Liz Breadon have proposed exploring models for publicly-owned grocery stores or other ways to help co-ops and nonprofit food pantries stay afloat.
Valente said the Dorchester Food Co-op will take any help it can get.
“The support and assistance, in any form or fashion, from the community — whether from the city, or from our shoppers, or wherever it may be — is always wonderful,” he said.
The city council expects to discuss potential next steps before the end of the year.
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