<p>Strong communities don’t just happen—they’re built through vision, collaboration, and care. This feed highlights the work of neighbors, organizers, and changemakers coming together to improve housing, infrastructure, access, and opportunity. Discover how local action creates lasting impact—and how you can help shape the future of your own community.</p>

Community Development

The analysis of investor-owned utilities comes as more Americans struggle with bills and states scrutinize electricity rates.

Utility Profits Rise as Household Bills Soar, New Analysis Finds

Older repeat homebuyers dominated the housing market in the year ending in June.

Housing Affordability for First-Time Buyers

<div class="postTextPostPage">
  <style>
    /* Causes.com Embed Baseline */
    .postTextPostPage a { color: blue; }
    .postTextPostPage figure { max-width: 100%; margin: 1rem auto; }
    .postTextPostPage img { width: 100%; height: auto; border: 0; }
    .postTextPostPage figcaption { font-size: 0.9em; color: #555; }
    .postTextPostPage h1,.postTextPostPage h2,.postTextPostPage h3,
    .postTextPostPage h4,.postTextPostPage h5,.postTextPostPage h6 {
      font-size: 1.5rem; line-height: 1.3; margin: 1.25rem 0 .75rem; font-weight: 700;
    }

    /* Centered Datawrapper embed */
    .dw-embed {
      width: 100%;
      max-width: 900px;      /* adjust if you want narrower/wider */
      margin: 1rem auto 0;   /* IMPORTANT: no bottom margin -> removes the big gap */
    }
    .dw-embed iframe {
      width: 100%;
      display: block;
      border: 0;
      overflow: hidden;      /* no internal scrollbars */
      /* Fallback height if DW script is stripped; gets overridden when script runs */
      height: clamp(460px, 62vw, 760px);
    }

    /* Tighten spacing after embeds */
    .dw-embed + * { margin-top: .5rem !important; }
    .postTextPostPage p:empty { display: none; }          /* hide ghost paragraphs */
    .postTextPostPage p { margin: 0 0 1rem; }             /* consistent paragraph rhythm */

    /* Hide third-party boxes not needed on Causes */
    .donateContainer, .tipContainer, .socContainer, .subscribeShortcodeContainer { display: none !important; }

  /* Kill any theme iframe margins on desktop */
  .postTextPostPage iframe { margin: 0 !important; display: block; }

  /* Remove baseline/line-box space that some layouts reserve under embeds */
  .dw-embed { margin-bottom: 0 !important; line-height: 0; font-size: 0; }

  /* Ensure the first element after the embed isn’t adding big spacing */
  .postTextPostPage .dw-embed + * { margin-top: 0.5rem !important; }
  .postTextPostPage .dw-embed + p { margin-top: 0.5rem !important; }

  /* Just in case paragraphs get extra top margin on desktop breakpoints */
  @media (min-width: 1024px) {
    .postTextPostPage .dw-embed + * { margin-top: 0.5rem !important; }
    .postTextPostPage .dw-embed { margin-bottom: 0 !important; }
  }
postTextPostPage > .dw-embed { margin-bottom: 0 !important; }
@media (min-width: 1024px) {
    .postTextPostPage .dw-embed {
      display: flow-root;      /* creates a new BFC; prevents margin collapse */
      margin-bottom: 0 !important;
      line-height: 0;
      font-size: 0;
    }
    .postTextPostPage .dw-embed iframe {
      display: block;
      margin: 0 !important;
      vertical-align: top;
    }
    /* ensure the first block after the embed doesn't re-introduce a big gap */
    .postTextPostPage .dw-embed + * { margin-top: 0.5rem !important; }
    .postTextPostPage .dw-embed + p { margin-top: 0.5rem !important; }
    /* normalize paragraph top margins on desktop */
    .postTextPostPage p { margin-top: 0 !important; }
  }
  </style>
<style>
  /* Nuke empty donate wrapper that causes desktop gap */
  .postTextPostPage a[href*="stateline.org/donate"] { display: none !important; }
</style>
<style>
  /* --- Final alignment fix for Causes desktop --- */
  .postTextPostPage .dw-embed {
    max-width: 900px;         /* same width cap */
    margin-left: auto !important;
    margin-right: auto !important;
    text-align: center;       /* ensures centering inside flex/grid containers */
    display: block !important;
    float: none !important;
  }
  .postTextPostPage .dw-embed iframe {
    margin: 0 auto !important;
    display: block !important;
  }
</style>
<style>
  /* Center DW and ignore any upstream floats/layout */
  .postTextPostPage .dw-embed {
    width: 100%;
    max-width: none;
    margin: 1rem auto 0;
    clear: both !important;            /* ← stops float-right leftovers */
    display: flex !important;          /* ← true centering */
    justify-content: center !important;
    align-items: stretch;
  }
  .postTextPostPage .dw-embed iframe {
    max-width: 900px;                  /* cap width */
    width: 100%;
    height: 520px;                     /* starter height (DW script will override) */
    border: 0;
    margin: 0;
    display: block;
    vertical-align: top;
  }
</style>


<p><a href="https://stateline.org/author/thenderson/">Tim Henderson</a> | <a href="https://stateline.org">Stateline</a> <br />November 4, 2025</p> <p>Young homebuyers have been priced out of the market even more than previously, according to a report released Nov. 4 by the National Association of Realtors.</p><p>“As a result of decreased housing affordability and limited housing inventory, potential first-time buyers retreated further from the housing market,” the <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/first-time-home-buyer-share-falls-to-historic-low-of-21-median-age-rises-to-40">report</a> stated, comparing homebuyers between July 2024 and June 2025 to previous years.</p><p>The share of first-time homebuyers dropped to a new low of 21% of all buyers, and the median age of those first-time buyers increased to 40, up from as low as the late 20s in the 1980s.</p><p>Older repeat buyers with cash offers and large down payments now dominate the market, according to the report. Repeat buyers had a median age of 62, the oldest in the report’s 44-year history.</p>
<div class="dw-embed">
  <iframe
    title="Homebuyers get older"
    id="datawrapper-chart-LgG7W"
    src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/LgG7W/7/"
    scrolling="no"
    loading="lazy"
    aria-label="Chart">
  </iframe>
</div>

<p>Among the states trying to help first-time buyers: <a href="https://www.floridahousing.org/programs/homebuyer-overview-page">Florida</a>, which offers mortgages and down payment assistance, and Michigan, which has <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/mshda/pathway-to-housing/firstgendpa">exhausted the funds</a> in the first-generation, first-time buyer program it announced in February.</p><p>In October, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said he plans an “aggressive” approach to zoning changes to create 35,000 starter homes aimed at first-time buyers, including a state preemption of local rules, though similar state <a href="https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/2025/feb/13/utah-lawmakers-say-no-to-preemption-halt-2-housing-bills-aimed-at-allowing-smaller-homes/">laws failed</a> earlier in the year.</p><p>“I don’t want my grandkids to be in Indiana,” Cox said in a recent speech, saying one of his sons was considering a move there to find a more affordable house.</p><p>Convenience to work location continues to decline as a reason for choosing a neighborhood in which to buy. It’s down to 31%, from 34% last year and 46% before the pandemic in 2019, despite recent increases in employer demands to work from the office, according to the new Realtors report.</p><p>The reasons most buyers cite for choosing a home are quality of the neighborhood (59%) and convenience to friends and family (47%).</p><p>This fall, the federal government shutdown also might be affecting potential buyers if they are trying to purchase a home in certain flood zones, because new government flood insurance contracts are <a href="https://www.nahb.org/blog/2025/10/government-shutdown">suspended,</a> according to the National Association of Homebuilders. That could leave new homebuyers in some areas unable to close or exposed to risks in high-risk states such as Florida and North Carolina, according to <a href="https://www.realtor.com/advice/finance/nfip-lapse-homeowners-risk-2025/">Realtor.com.</a> In other cases, homebuyers might have to turn to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/10/16/nx-s1-5574322/government-shutdown-helps-private-flood-insurance-companies">costlier</a> private insurance.</p><p>The overall cost of buying a new home is near all-time highs, with monthly payments for the median-priced house consuming almost half the median household income in August, <a href="https://www.atlantafed.org/research/data-and-tools/home-ownership-affordability-monitor#Tab1">according</a> to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The last time it was below an affordable 30% was in 2021.</p><p>Prices have been rising fastest in the Midwest because of the region’s relative affordability, and in the Northeast because of the scarcity of homes for sale, according to an <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/housing-statistics/metropolitan-median-area-prices-and-affordability">August report</a> by the National Association of Realtors. Florida, Texas and other Southern states have seen price decreases because of new home construction, according to that report.</p><p>Median sales prices in the second quarter ranged from $146,000 in Decatur, Illinois, to $2.1 million in California’s Silicon Valley, according to the same <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/2025-08/metro-home-prices-q2-2025-ranked-median-single-family-2025-08-12.pdf">report</a>.</p><p>Governments and financial institutions are continuing to roll out programs they say can help. In September, New York state announced a <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/move-ny-governor-hochul-announces-breakthrough-affordable-homeownership-new-yorkers">plan</a> to build starter homes to be built with manufactured components on vacant land owned by nonprofit land banks for the purpose of building affordable housing and other community needs.</p><p>California’s <a href="https://www.calhfa.ca.gov/dream/">Dream For All</a> program offers up to $150,000 for down payments or closing costs to first-time, first-generation homebuyers, though applications are closed until 2026.</p><p>And the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati expanded a <a href="https://www.fhlbcin.com/housing-programs/rise-up-program/">program</a> giving $25,000 for down payments to first-time, first-generation homebuyers. The program started in Kentucky and expanded to western Tennessee counties.</p><p><em>Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at <a href="mailto:thenderson@stateline.org">thenderson@stateline.org</a>.</p>         <p><a href="https://stateline.org">Stateline</a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: <a href="mailto:info@stateline.org">info@stateline.org</a>.</em></p>
</div>


<script>
  (function () {
    function onMsg(e){
      if(!e || !e.data || !e.data["datawrapper-height"]) return;
      var H = e.data["datawrapper-height"];
      Object.keys(H).forEach(function(id){
        var el = document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+id) ||
                 document.querySelector("iframe[src*='/" + id + "/']");
        if(el) el.style.height = H[id] + "px";
      });
    }
    window.addEventListener("message", onMsg);
  })();
</script>

Young Homebuyers Lose More Ground in Housing Market as States Struggle to Help

An experiment in public dining is challenging the idea that good food should be a luxury.

Community Kitchens and Food Justice

<div class="theconversation-article-body">
    <style>
.postTextPostPage a { color: blue; }
.postTextPostPage figure { max-width: 100%; margin: 1rem auto; }
.postTextPostPage img { width: 100%; height: auto; border: none; }
.postTextPostPage figcaption { font-size: 0.9em; color: #555; }
</style>
<p><a href="https://sentientmedia.org/author/gabriellasotelo/">Gabriella Sotelo | <a href="https://sentientmedia.org">Sentient</a><br>Oct. 8, 2025

<p>Tucked into the Lower East Side of New York City, <a href="https://www.communitykitchen.us/">Community Kitchen</a> isn’t a typical restaurant. The new nonprofit dining space aims to reimagine what it means to eat well, and who gets to do so. Conceived of nearly five years ago, Community Kitchen is the brainchild of <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/pages/howtocookeverything#about">Mark Bittman</a>, author of the “How to Cook Everything” cookbook series and founder of the <a href="https://bittmanproject.com/">Bittman Project</a>. Bittman saw a fundamental flaw in the food system: While high-end restaurants can serve nutritious food, treat workers fairly and source responsibly, they are still exclusive spaces, inaccessible to most people.</p>
<p>For that to change, Bittman argues, the profit motive has to be removed altogether. “You have to be willing to lose money if you want to make good food accessible to everyone,” he says. To that end, diners pay for their meal according to a sliding scale, rather than set prices on a menu.</p>
<p>To bring this vision to life, Bittman assembled a team of food justice leaders, chefs, hospitality experts and policy strategists to launch a restaurant that would challenge the status quo — from pricing and sourcing to labor and service. Together, they identified five core pillars that redefine what “good food” means. The pilot restaurant officially launched on September 19.</p>
<h2>A Broken System</h2>
</p>
<p>The U.S. food system is a study in contradictions: food is everywhere, yet millions go hungry or malnourished. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 47.4 million people lived in food-insecure households in 2023. The USDA defines food insecurity as “limited or uncertain availability” of nutritious foods.</p>
<p>This crisis appears to be escalating. The American diet continues to be dominated by unhealthy ultra-processed foods (foods that are high in sugar, fat and/or salt). On top of this, the Trump administration’s $186 billion in cuts to SNAP means millions of Americans are at risk of losing critical food assistance.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in New York City, nearly one in four residents struggles to afford food. On paper, some neighborhoods appear well-stocked with food, points out chef Mavis-Jay Sanders, who is the culinary director of Community Kitchen. But looks can be deceiving. Zoom in on a map, and it seems like there’s a grocery store every few blocks. In reality Sanders says it’s mostly bodegas filled with far more snacks and sodas than whole foods. For example, a 2022 CBS investigation found that across the five boroughs of New York City, 10 neighborhoods had more than 25 bodegas for every supermarket, and nearly 20 neighborhoods had a ratio of at least 15 bodega to one supermarket.</p>
<p>This is what some advocates describe as a food swamp: a neighborhood where unhealthy options far outnumber nutritious ones. And these conditions don’t arise by accident. <a href="https://sentientmedia.org/food-apartheid-food-desert/">Advocates point to what they call food apartheid</a>, a term that highlights how systemic racism, redlining and disinvestment have deliberately shaped these conditions. If food swamps are the result, food apartheid describes the system that created them.</p>
<p>“The biggest failure of our food system is that the food that’s most affordable is killing people,” says Sanders. “How we are addressing that is finding a way to feed people with food that's going to nourish their bodies.”</p>
<p>But the harm is more than what ends up on people’s plates, and it’s perpetuated throughout the food system, Community Kitchen executive director Rae Gomes tells Sentient. “Because our food system has always been profit-based — starting from slavery — we decided that we were going to maximize profit,” Gomes says. “When that became no longer viable, we created capitalism. Every single person who works in the food system is taken advantage of. So the way Community Kitchen seeks to — in a very small but hopefully significant way — to change that is by not centering profit.”</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://sentientmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_0964-scaled.jpg" alt="Community Kitchen's entrance" class="wp-image-48775" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Community Kitchen</figcaption></figure>
<p>In other words, food insecurity is about much more than hunger. The USDA defines it narrowly as a lack of consistent access to enough food — but that definition captures only part of the reality. Food insecurity is also a matter of inequality, exploitation and exclusion.</p>
<p>This is the broken system that Community Kitchen seeks to disrupt.</p>
<h2><strong>Five Pillars of Good Food</strong></h2>
</p>
<p>Community Kitchen was designed to test what happens when accessibility and community aren’t afterthoughts, but starting points. Every element of the experience, from the menu to the staffing model, is structured broadly around five pillars: good sourcing, dignified labor, fresh and nutritious food, affordability and community. These pillars are intended to serve as a new standard for what “good food” should mean.</p>
<p>Sourcing starts with relationships. The team works directly with local, marginalized farmers in order to build a more just supply chain that centers sustainability and equity. Inside the restaurant, those values extend to the team. In an industry notorious for low wages and instability, Community Kitchen offers living wages and prioritizes the local community.</p>
<p>“When you don't have to pay attention to profit, you get to pay attention to so many other important things,” Gomes said. “You get to pay attention to taking care of people, making sure that the food is high quality and good for you, and making sure that people are comfortable.”&nbsp;</p>
<p>Every meal is cooked from scratch using mostly local, seasonal ingredients. One dish Sanders mentioned experimenting with was whole wheat steamed buns packed with collard greens. The idea is to cook dishes that draw from cultural traditions in the neighborhood using local ingredients. Corn is turned into corn silk tea and corn pudding. On the plate, the food is fresh, nutritious and designed to be joyful.</p>
<p>“There's an excitement of people who are in the building about the food and about where it's coming from, the love and the process that goes into it,”&nbsp; Sanders says.</p>
<p>Here, quality isn’t reserved for an elite few. It’s made accessible by design.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://sentientmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_0923-scaled.jpg" alt="Vegetables on a toothpick" class="wp-image-48777" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Community Kitchen</figcaption></figure>
<p>Instead of setting fixed prices, Community Kitchen uses a sliding scale model — $15, $45 or $125 per meal — allowing those with more to help cover the cost for those with less. Diners simply pay what they can. There’s no paperwork, no proof of income. “Restaurants and food were supposed to be about places where people could come and be taken care of, and sit down and be nourished and have good conversation,” Sanders describes. “We’ve gotten so far away from that, and it tends to be just transactional.” They are working to revive the idea that food spaces can be places of care and of community, which is the last pillar.</p>
<p>Community Kitchen wants to create a space of connection and care. That means collaborating with local partners like the Lower East Side Girls Club, where the restaurant will be located, and canvassing the neighborhood and inviting feedback at every step.</p>
<h2>Scaling a Vision: From Pilot to Policy</h2>
</p>
<p>Community Kitchen is launching as a small, three-month pilot, but Bittman and the team hope it can serve as proof of concept for what a better food system could look like.</p>
<p>That vision isn’t without precedent. The project draws inspiration from <a href="https://www.nycfoodpolicy.org/popular-restaurants-belo-horizonte-urban-food-policy-snapshot/">Brazil’s Popular Restaurant initiative</a>, launched by the city government of Belo Horizonte to combat food insecurity. These government-supported “People’s Restaurants” serve affordable, balanced meals, often for the equivalent of just one dollar, using ingredients sourced from local family farms.</p>
<p>For the project to scale here, you need money, and both Bittman and Gomes say this is the kind of project that would benefit from federal funding. Sourcing local and sustainable ingredients, preparing healthy meals and building community should be subsidized, Gomes says. And the federal government has money, Bittman argues, adding that “this isn’t a pipe dream.”</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://sentientmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_0385-scaled.jpg" alt="A table setting at Community Kitchen" class="wp-image-48779" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Community Kitchen</figcaption></figure>
<p>During this test run, Gomes says the team is closely tracking how well they uphold each of their five core pillars, working with a research and evaluation firm on an evaluation process that will run through March. In the meantime, during the restaurant’s opening phase, they’re hosting focus groups and creating opportunities to bring people together to gather feedback.</p>
<p>Ultimately, success isn’t just about data points, members of the team tell Sentient. It’s about the experience they offer every person who walks through the door. “I think when people say our name and they smile,” says Sanders, “ that’s when we’ll know we were successful.”</p>

          <p><em><a href="https://sentientmedia.org/community-kitchen-is-redefining-good-food/">This article</a> originally appeared in <a href="https://sentientmedia.org">Sentient</a></em>. </p>
          <img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://sentientmedia.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=48771&ga4=G-2243FCJ5G9" style="width:1px;height:1px;">

Mark Bittman’s Community Kitchen Is Redefining ‘Good Food’

This local food strategy also happens to be a boon for climate action.

<h1>Miami Farmers Market Helps Fight Climate Pollution With Affordable Produce</h1>
          <p>I wipe the sweat that’s beaded across my forehead. It’s a balmy Saturday in South Florida, and I’m standing outside in the heat, surrounded by vegetables. I’m talking to Art Friedrich, founder of Urban Oasis Project, a nonprofit working to strengthen <a href="https://www.urbanoasisproject.org/">Miami’s local food movement</a>. “Good food should be considered a right for everyone,” Friedrich tells Sentient. For Friedrich, good food means more produce and less meat. The project aims to help communities get healthier while <a href="https://sentientmedia.org/why-is-eating-meat-bad-for-the-environment/">lowering their climate impact</a>.</p>
<p>Founded in 2008, Urban Oasis Project runs an array of programs aimed at getting more fruits and vegetables to their neighbors. We’re at one of two farmers markets the project runs in South Florida. At this one, a few dozen vendors hawk their goods, surrounded by the historic pink and yellow buildings, towering banyan trees and colorful peacock residents of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens’ village.</p>
<h2>More Healthy Plants Helps Curb Climate Pollution</h2>
</p>
<p>The location of the market, historic <a href="https://vizcaya.org/vizcaya-through-the-years/">Vizcaya Mansion</a>, is no stranger to the pressures of climate change. The <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/climate-change/article276148261.html">nonprofit has had to hire engineers</a> in recent years to stave off the effects of sea level rise and preserve the historic estate and gardens.</p>
<p>The global food system accounts for around a <a href="https://sentientmedia.org/explainer-beef-climate/">third of all greenhouse gas emissions</a>, with beef production largely driving that number. Curbing climate emissions happens to be a benefit of Urban Oasis Project’s work to get people eating healthier.</p>
<p>“We want people to eat more fruits and vegetables,” says Friedrich. “As long as they're eating fruits and vegetables, it is going to be <a href="https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/what-should-you-eat/vegetables-and-fruits/">incredibly beneficial to their health</a>.”</p>
<h2>Affordable Food for Miami Communities</h2>
</p>
<p>Florida’s lack of income tax and bounty of pristine beaches have attracted droves of new residents, including a <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article306240071.html">recent influx of millionaires</a>. But as new Miamians flock to the city, many longtime residents are struggling to afford healthy food.</p>
<p><a href="https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article244755857.html">Miami’s food costs have increased</a> over the past several years, and along with it the cost of <a href="https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUURS35BSAH?amp%253bdata_tool=XGtable&amp;output_view=data&amp;include_graphs=true">other necessities, including housing</a>. <a href="https://feedingsouthflorida.org/">Feeding South Florida</a>, another nonprofit working on food insecurity in the area, has seen a surge in the number of people looking for their help, Paco Vélez, Chief Executive Officer of the organization, told Sentient via email.</p>
<p>Miami’s intensifying wealth gap has been a challenge for Urban Oasis Project as well, mostly in attracting folks to a farmers market situated on the grounds of a historic mansion. “For the first year or two, it was pretty hard to get some customers here to Vizcaya, because of the history of Vizcaya, and the reputation that it’s some rich dude’s estate,” says Friedrich.</p>
<p>It’s a challenge that Urban Oasis Project and Vizcaya as an institution have worked hard in collaboration to overcome. Two of the factors that help draw people to the Vizcaya market are its convenience to public transit — it’s an 11 minute walk from the nearest Miami metrorail station — and Urban Oasis Project’s SNAP doubling program.</p>
<p>The program <a href="https://freshaccessbucks.com/">doubles the value of SNAP recipients’ benefits</a> when they buy produce, and is part of Feeding Florida’s Fresh Access Bucks initiative that supports similar initiatives at over 80 locations across the state.</p>
<h2>Trump Administration Spending Cuts Put Initiatives At Risk</h2>
</p>
<p>At the moment, President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” — and almost <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/house-reconciliation-bill-proposes-deepest-snap-cut-in-history-would-take">$300 billion in cuts to SNAP</a> — is a significant and looming threat. Friedrich is concerned for his community and their ability to access fresh, healthy food.</p>
<p>“It's going to be really devastating if these proposed cuts to overall SNAP benefits happen. People are going to go hungry, and people are not going to get their nutritional needs met. Kids are going to suffer,” he says.</p>
<p>Friedrich feels confident the nonprofit will at least survive. “I never wanted to be grant-dependent for exactly these reasons, because I lived through many administrations that are hostile to working people and formerly working people,” he says.</p>
<p>But there are consequences. Urban Oasis Project had been selected to receive funding via an <a href="https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/increasing-land-access/increasing-land-capital-and-market-access-program-projects">Inflation Reduction Act program in 2023</a> — but the promised funds were among those cut by the Trump Administration. This meant the organization wasn’t reimbursed for expenses it had already incurred, despite the contract requiring the government do so, says Friedrich.</p>
<p>And there are bigger effects to grapple with. “It'll certainly be a loss of income for us, which means a loss of income to all the farms that we source from,” he says. “We only buy what we can sell, so if we can't sell as much, we can't buy as much.” And future projects are on hold too, including a plan to buy land for starting a farm of their own.</p>
<h2>A Farmers Market Founded on Community Ties</h2>
</p>
<p>As I’m talking to Friedrich, customers crowd around the fruits and vegetables overflowing from the Urban Oasis Projects’ tables. We’re interrupted on several occasions by regulars who want to say hello, and on one occasion, by someone wanting to sell the mangos from their backyard tree — an offer Friedrich gladly accepts.</p>
<p>These deep community ties are the foundation of Urban Oasis Project. The charge for vendors to sell here is $50 (many other markets charge hundreds), but instead of just letting in anyone who can pay, Friedrich is selective. The vendors who are the best fit are those that view the market as a way to be “mutually supportive,” willing to buy from each other and build relationships.</p>
<p>The day that I’m there, Urban Oasis Project shares some mushrooms with a vendor selling Korean fried chicken. They want to test out frying the mushrooms to see whether it can work as a meat-free addition to the menu.</p>
<p>It’s a culture the vendors appreciate. “I believe in this market, because it's the one market that showed us that we can do this,” Wanderson Oliviera, cofounder of Dolce Mio, tells Sentient. He sells Italian treats out of his booth. The Vizcaya market was his first as a vendor, and part of what gave him the confidence to leave his daytime job and focus full-time on the business. Though he vends at numerous markets these days, he plans on always selling here.</p>
<p>Friedrich sources from both organic and conventional farms for produce, aiming to “have every different vegetable represented.” Many shoppers don’t know what the organic label means, Friedrich finds, so they label everything and stay open to having a conversation with curious shoppers.</p>
<p>And to encourage customers to lower their climate impact and improve their health, Friedrich likes to say, “just eat half as much meat.” It doesn’t have to be the whole meal, says Friedrich, but more like adding a flavor or “a condiment.”</p>

          <p>This article originally appeared in Sentient at <a href="https://sentientmedia.org/miami-farmers-market-helps-fight-climate-pollution/">https://sentientmedia.org/miami-farmers-market-helps-fight-climate-pollution/</a>.</p>
          <img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://sentientmedia.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=47046&ga4=G-2243FCJ5G9" style="width:1px;height:1px;">

"Miami Farmers Market Helps Fight Climate Pollution With Affordable Produce

Mamdani won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor with a focus on policies including lowering housing costs and universal child care. Here's where he stands on key issues.

Organizations that help people prepare for, find, secure and retain suitable employment. Use this code for organizations that provide a wide range of employment services or those that offer employment-related services not specified below. Includes: Employment placement agencies; Job development organizations including those for youth and people with disabilities; Retraining; and Senior Community Service Employment Programs

COMMUNITY VOICES HEARD INC

Organizations that provide a variety of personal social services or which offer personal social services not specified below.

MAKE THE ROAD STATES INC

<style>
    a {color: blue;}
  </style>
<p><em><a href="https://19thnews.org/2025/06/zohran-mamdani-policies-affordability-housing-child-care?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=19th-republishing&utm_content=/2025/06/zohran-mamdani-policies-affordability-housing-child-care">This story</a> was originally reported by Grace Panetta of <a href="https://19thnews.org/?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=19th-republishing&utm_content=/2025/06/zohran-mamdani-policies-affordability-housing-child-care">The 19th</a>. <a href="https://19thnews.org/author/grace-panetta?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=19th-republishing&utm_content=/2025/06/zohran-mamdani-policies-affordability-housing-child-care"> Meet Grace and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy</a>.</em></p>
<p>Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has pulled off a stunning political upset, running a successful primary campaign for New York City mayor on a platform of making the city more affordable for working people and families through major investments in the city’s social safety net.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Three-term former Gov. Andrew Cuomo <a href="https://19thnews.org/2025/06/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-new-york-results/">conceded to Mamdani</a> in the Democratic primary Tuesday night, not even waiting for the tabulation of ranked-choice votes. Mamdani will be on the ballot in November, as will the embattled incumbent, Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent. Cuomo, who resigned as governor amid <a href="https://19thnews.org/2025/06/cuomo-new-york-harassment-legislation/">sexual misconduct allegations</a>, could run separately as well.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Mamdani, a 33-year-old self-described democratic socialist, ran on affordability and the cost of living for working-class New Yorkers and families. He put out social media videos highlighting everything from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DETkeqQOAOW/?igsh=MTZiNTdtNnk5aTl0NA==">rising rent costs</a> to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DExgEypu8tS/?igsh=aWRwaXl3bGxibjZz">“halalflation”</a> at New York City’s halal carts, and anchored his campaign around a few signature policies, like rolling out free bus service, implementing universal child care, creating city-run grocery stores and freezing rents on rent-stabalized units.&nbsp;</p>
<p>To fund many of his policies, he’s also proposing new taxes on the richest New Yorkers and raising taxes on corporations, drawing criticism from his opponents <a href="https://www.cato.org/commentary/zohran-mamdanis-war-prices">and others.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>“We have won because New Yorkers have stood up for a city they can afford,” Mamdani told supporters shortly after midnight Wednesday. “A city where they can do more than just struggle, one where those who toil in the night can enjoy the fruits of their labor in the day, where hard work is repaid with a stable life, where eight hours on the factory floor or behind the wheel of a cab is enough to pay the mortgage.”</p>
<p>Here are some of Mamdani’s key proposals:&nbsp;</p>
<h2><strong>Child care and education:&nbsp;</strong></h2>
<p>The cost of child care <a href="https://19thnews.org/2025/06/child-care-costs-rising-home-costs/">is rivaling housing costs</a> as a major burden on families. Under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York rolled out universal early childhood education for 3-year-olds (3K) and pre-kindergarten (pre-K) for 4-year-olds. Mamdani wants to expand that to universal child care for children from 6 weeks to 5 years of age by opening new child care centers and raising wages for child care and early childhood education professionals.&nbsp;</p>
<p>“The lack of universal child care has cost our city’s economy more than $20 billion in the last few years alone,” Mamdani said in a campaign video.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Mamdani also proposes giving “baby baskets” to new parents in New York City, including information and resources on city resources for new parents and “items like diapers, baby wipes, nursing pads, post-partum pads, swaddles, and books,” a program he says he will address maternal mortality and bolster trust in government.&nbsp;</p>
<p>On K-12 education, Mamdani says on his campaign website that he “will ensure our public schools are fully funded with equally distributed resources, strong after-school programs, mental health counselors and nurses, compliant and effective class sizes, and integrated student bodies.”</p>
<h2><strong>Housing:</strong></h2>
<p>Mamdani’s most notable housing proposal was freezing rents on rent-stabilized units, which are subject to city-approved rent increases and guarantee a right for tenants to renew their leases. Mamdani wants to build 200,000 new units of affordable housing in 10 years, increase enforcement for landlords who don’t provide safe and adequate conditions for tenants and create an office of Deed Theft Prevention to <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/08/05/deed-theft-protection-home-ownership/">address deed theft scams,</a> which have disproportionately affected homeowners in Black and Latinx neighborhoods.&nbsp;</p>
<h2><strong>Taxes and labor:</strong></h2>
<p>Mamdani says he would back a law to increase New York City’s minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030.&nbsp;</p>
<h2><strong>LGBTQ+ rights:</strong></h2>
<p>In 2024, New York voters<a href="https://19thnews.org/2024/11/new-york-equal-rights-amendment-abortion-results/"> approved a statewide constitutional equal rights amendment </a>codifying abortion rights and broadly prohibiting gender-based discrimination. Mamdani wants to make New York City <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pMQhFiQEZh0PgI8q1PL2NTCvM5JT5-ee/view">an “LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city”</a> by expanding access to gender-affirming care through a $65 million investment in public providers, bolstering protections for LGBTQ+ people and creating an official office of LGBTQIA+ affairs within his administration.&nbsp;</p>
<img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://pixel.19thnews.org/2025/06/zohran-mamdani-policies-affordability-housing-child-care" alt="" />