Minneapolis researches ‘municipal grocery stores,’ examines so-called ‘food apartheid’

The City of Minneapolis issued a report Wednesday which researched “municipal grocery stores” and food access issues in the city. Among other things, the report examined so-called “food apartheid.”

In November, the Public Health & Safety Committee of the Minneapolis City Council directed city staff to author a report that includes food insecurity data in Minneapolis, an overview of municipally-owned businesses in Minneapolis, a map of the city’s “food deserts,” a history of municipally-owned grocery stores in America, and other topics.

On Wednesday, that report was presented to the committee. According to the report, Minnesota and Hennepin County have food insecurity rates which are below the national average, but much of that food insecurity is located in Minneapolis.

Much of the report discusses the concept of “food deserts,” a term used to describe an area of the city that does not have a readily-available grocery store. However, the report notes that it uses the term “food apartheid” rather than “food desert” to be consistent with the “Minneapolis Food Action Plan.”

According to the Minneapolis Food Action plan, “Food desert implies that a lack of grocery stores is a naturally occurring concept,” and “Food apartheid calls attention to the policies, systemic racism, and other oppressive powers that have created and prevent certain areas from having accessible and affordable grocery stores.”

In turn, the report outlines studies and organizations which allege that there are racial and ethnic disparities when it comes to food access.

Regarding municipally-owned grocery stores, the report notes that “No major U.S. city has opened a publicly owned and operated grocery store.” However, several smaller American cities have grocery stores that are public-private partnerships where the government has invested in those stores. Some of those grocery stores were documented in the report.

Grocery stores themselves have very small profit margins, and Minneapolis’ report said the grocery industry has a profit margin which averages between 1% and 3%. At present, no municipally-owned liquor stores, pharmacies, or cannabis dispensaries exist in Minneapolis.

The report did not make any recommendations to the council.

While council members did not say whether Minneapolis would pursue a municipally-owned grocery store, council members thanked city staff for their report. One council member said now was the time to have a conversation about this topic, and another mentioned that he looked forward to “hearing about next steps.”

The concept of municipally-owned grocery stores has been a popular subject of debate over the last few weeks following Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary. If elected, Mamdani wants to spend $60 million to open five city-owned stores.

“You don’t lower grocery bills by having government-run stores,” Ryan Bourne, an economist at the Cato Institute, told Fox Business regarding Mamdani’s proposal. “Government-run entities have no market discipline—no need to earn profits, compete, or serve customers efficiently. That leads to bloated costs, empty shelves, and zero accountability.”

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