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How the City can encourage private landlords to provide a public good?

Rent control is one way. The building code is another.

The building code could specify how a kitchenette facility should be built out, or minimum standards for food storage and preparation, perhaps tying it to square footage and number of rooms. This would give residents some recourse to pressure landlords to comply through the DBI complaint process and give the City access to inspect and recommend.

The improved infrastructure can be combined with education, outreach and awareness programs.

Of course, this implies that residents have a high enough degree of functioning, interest or motivation to make use of such a program. Residents are private individuals who may be making the choices they are for other reasons besides lack of adequate external resources.

I would hope the City would avoid a paternalistic approach and allow residents to express their needs and partner to meet them as private individuals. The problem may be more complex than sucky kitchens.