New York Mayoral Candidate Wants to Work With Local Farms to Lower Food Prices

Latest U.S. data show farmers get back less than 16 cents for every food dollar.

New York state Sen. and New York City mayoral candidate Zellnor Myrie in New York City on June 10, 2025. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

NEW YORK—As Americans feel the sting from rising food costs, one Democratic candidate for New York mayor proposes a solution: sourcing locally.

“We have a lot of farms in this state that need more support so that they can send local foods down here, so we’re not paying as much in transport. We’ve got a robust system here that we need to support,” Zellnor Myrie, a state senator from Brooklyn, told NTD, a sister media outlet of The Epoch Times.

New York has 30,500 farms as of 2024, according to the Department of Agriculture. The department’s latest data show that farmers receive less than 16 cents for every dollar spent on food, with the rest going to costs such as transportation, processing, and distribution.

The department in 2022 invested more than half a million dollars to shorten the supply chain, including creating regional food business centers and ramping up what’s called the farm-to-school programs that connect schools with local farmers.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2023 signed an executive order directing state agencies to increase sourcing food from local farmers and producers to 30 percent in five years.

Myrie’s approach contrasts with that of his opponent, Zohran Mamdani, a socialist and state assembly member representing Queens, who floated the idea of opening city-run supermarkets to bring down food prices.

“We’re living in an environment today where the cost of everything is way too high,” Myrie told NTD. “But when we talk about the cost of food, this is something that we literally cannot live without.”

He said that he also wants the city to help lower the rental costs of food stores “so that they can perhaps sell food at a discount.”

Myrie is one of 11 candidates running in the Democratic primary on June 24 to replace Mayor Eric Adams. Adams, seeking reelection as an independent, bypasses the primary and will face off against the primary winner from a ranked-choice voting, along with Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and another independent candidate, lawyer Jim Walden.

Born to two immigrants from Costa Rica, 38-year-old Myrie went to public schools in Brooklyn and ran for state senate in the same neighborhood where his parents raised him.

New York state Sen. and New York City mayoral candidate Zellnor Myrie during an interview with NTD in New York City on June 10, 2025. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

He spoke about wanting to make housing more affordable by building 1 million new homes, hire more police officers to enhance public safety, and support small businesses, noting that he has worked on 65 bills that have become law.

Newly married, Myrie said he wants to “ensure that New York City is a place where everyone can raise a family.”

He described his policy style as pragmatic.

“The greatest mayor in New York City history, Mayor LaGuardia, said there’s no Republican or Democratic way to pick up the trash, and that is my philosophy. Pick up the trash, get the job done,” he said.

“Ultimately, that’s what people are going to be concerned about.”

New York state Sen. and New York City mayoral candidate Zellnor Myrie (L) takes the subway in New York City on June 10, 2025. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

He said he hopes America becomes a country where people can “have strong disagreements” but are not “disagreeable.”

Public service “shouldn’t be guided by politics,” he said. “When I’m talking to people on the street, and when they stop me on the street, they don’t ask if I’m a progressive or moderate or conservative, they say, ‘Are you getting the job done?’ That is my North Star.”