New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani made his commitment to addressing food insecurity clear from early on in his run for office and has put campaign promises into action in his first six months as mayor: In May, Mamdani announced that the first of five city-owned grocery stores will open in the Bronx next year. Now, he’s taking the next step in his plans to provide affordable, healthy food for New Yorkers.
Mamdani announced today that he is appointing Siddhartha Sanchez as executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy (MOFP). In a press release, Mamdani emphasizes that “New Yorkers are struggling to put healthy food on the table while grocery prices continue to rise. Building a city that people can afford means building a food system that works for everyone.”
The mayor is confident in the experience and values his appointee brings to the table. “Siddhartha Sanchez has spent his career fighting for food justice, strengthening community-led solutions, and expanding access to healthy food,” Mamdani says. “Food access is an economic justice issue, and I am proud to welcome him to this administration as we work to ensure that every New Yorker has access to food as a basic human right.”
The MOFP is dedicated to developing a more equitable food system in NYC by increasing food security, encouraging sustainability, providing economic opportunities, advocating for access to and consumption of healthy food, and more — all efforts that call for developing and implementing forward-thinking food policy.
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“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of New York City — the city I grew up in and have dedicated my career to,” Sanchez details in the press release.
For the new executive director, a native New Yorker who was born and raised in Washington Heights, improving the city’s food system is intimately linked to addressing underlying inequities. The appointee shares that “food security is inseparable from racial and economic justice, and for too many New Yorkers — especially in low-income communities of color — access to healthy, affordable food remains out of reach. I am committed to the Mamdani administration’s vision of a city where every resident can thrive, and I look forward to building on the tremendous foundation MOFP has laid. Because of their work, we understand these challenges more clearly than ever before.”
Sanchez enters his new role as executive director of the MOFP with over two decades of experience in community advocacy and food policy. He started his political career as a senior advisor to U.S. Representative José Serrano, representing the South Bronx, before moving on to helm a philanthropic portfolio — where he worked with organizations focused on issues like food insecurity, affordable housing, and community development — and found a public-interest consulting practice, KPS Strategies.
Most recently, Sanchez was the executive director of the Bronx River Alliance, a nonprofit organization that strives to conserve its namesake river and the surrounding area. In this role he was instrumental in organizing the first season of the Bronx River Foodway, a pilot project at Concrete Plant Park and what the mayor’s office describes as “the first edible food forest in New York City.” The project demonstrates how public lands can be used to support food security.
The MOFP works across city agencies in its efforts to improve NYC’s food system, and representatives for the nonprofits Red Hook Initiative (RHI) and Community Food Funders expressed support for Mamdani’s appointee in the mayor’s press release. “We look forward to seeing how Sanchez continues to advance bold, community-centered solutions that strengthen food systems across New York City,” says Michael Partis, executive director of RHI.
Beyond his professional qualifications, Sanchez has a personal passion for food. He’s a lifelong vegan, enthusiastic home cook and gardener, and even previously founded a vegan Dominican catering company — a nod to his parents, who emigrated from the Dominican Republic. Sanchez brings a love of food and a commitment to New Yorkers to the mayor’s office.
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