Buffalo Mayoral Candidates Will Participate in Forum on Fair Food Access
The Good Food Buffalo Coalition will ask Buffalo’s Mayoral Candidates to share how they plan to foster fair food access for all city residents.
Buffalo Mayor Christopher P. Scanlon
Buffalo, NY – On Wednesday, October 29, 2025, candidates running to be the next mayor of Buffalo will gather at the Northland Workforce Training Center for a Forum to share their plans to foster fair food access for all throughout the city. Following an outpouring of requests for a second Food Forum, this Mayoral Candidates Food Forum builds off of the first one held in June by asking Buffalo’s Mayoral Candidates to listen to residents’ food-related experiences and to share their specific plans to foster fair food access for all in the city. This Forum is hosted by the Good Food Buffalo Coalition and moderated by Franchelle Parker.
The Mayoral Candidates Food Forum will feature a Community Story Time panel of community leaders who will share their food-related experiences, which the Mayoral Candidates will be invited to respond to before answering a series of questions from the Coalition. Coalition members will also be tabling prior to the start of the Forum to share their important work throughout the city, and the public is invited to arrive early to visit these tables. Light refreshments will be provided.
The media is invited to stay after the Forum for an informal Q+A with the candidates and representatives from the Good Food Buffalo Coalition.
Event Details:
What: Mayoral Candidates Food Forum
When: Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 5:30pm
Where: Northland Workforce Training Center – 683 Northland Ave.
Who: Franchelle Parker, Executive Director of Open Buffalo, will moderate this Forum. The following candidates have confirmed their participation:
Sean Ryan
Michael Gainer
James Gardner
Why: Due to an outpouring of community requests, the Good Food Buffalo Coalition is hosting a second Mayoral Candidates Food Forum. Food is incredibly important to Buffalo’s communities and impacts every facet of residents’ lives. 45% residents in Buffalo and Erie County live below the poverty line and 1 out of 10 are considered food insecure, and these numbers are increasing. Food has also been used to directly harm Buffalo’s communities. The horrific May 14th, 2022 massacre at the Tops of Jefferson Ave. is one example of food-related violence that Buffalo’s communities have been subjected to. Buffalo voters demand a plan to ensure that communities’ food needs are met.
Photos from the first Mayoral Candidates Food Forum, held on June 4, 2025