06/25/2026
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed Siddhartha Sanchez, a lifelong vegan and longtime food justice advocate, as executive director of the Mayor's Office of Food Policy.
The announcement, made through a press release from the mayor's office, places a vegan at the head of the largest food policy operation of any US city.
Sanchez, a Washington Heights native and the son of Dominican immigrants, brings more than two decades of nonprofit leadership, government philanthropy, and community-based food systems work to the role. He previously worked at the Bronx River Alliance, where he helped pilot the first edible food forest at Concrete Plant Park, a former industrial site converted into public green space. In the 1990s, he founded a catering company specializing in vegan Dominican cuisine.
"Food access is an economic justice issue," Mamdani said in announcing the appointment. The move follows the mayor's May announcement that the first of five planned city-owned grocery stores will open in the Bronx in 2027. New York grocery prices currently run about 18 percent above the national average.
The Mayor's Office of Food Policy works across city agencies to coordinate food access, nutrition, and sustainability programs. Under former mayor Eric Adams, the city expanded plant-based options in public schools and hospitals.
With a vegan now at the helm and Mamdani in City Hall, that direction has political muscle behind it for the first time.
