Antitrust enforcers blocked Kroger’s takeover of Albertsons, but they’ve struggled to hold the grocers accountable for an alleged no-hire agreement. An unfavorable federal court decision risks undermining worker power in union contract negotiations.

If Mamdani’s grocery experiment can survive the pilot stage, it’d benefit from more scale, public wholesale investments, and wraparound antitrust enforcement, helping public grocers and small private stores alike.

While still without definitive proof, the FDA links states with the largest cyclospora outbreaks to lettuce from produce giant, Taylor Farms. Foodborne illnesses hit harder when one company controls so much of the food supply and corporate power threatens federal food safety standards.