How the battle over SNAP benefits affects local grocers
As the battle over SNAP benefits continues, President Donald Trump has threatened to withhold even partial payments until the government shutdown ends. That has 42 million people concerned about where they’ll get their food, with some local grocers worried about how they’ll replace that revenue.
SNAP payments
For the first time in U.S. history, SNAP benefits, or food stamps, are not being paid out as part of America’s longest government shutdown.
Several courts have ordered the Trump administration to tap into emergency funding to pay out the benefits, but Trump continues to push back against that.
“We are starting to see that a lot of our customers are asking if we have any information and whether they’ll be getting anything,” Eric Sanchez, an employee at Calimex Market in Los Angeles, told Straight Arrow News.
Small grocer concerns
The cuts to the food assistance program will likely impact more than 27,000 retailers nationwide, according to the Center for American Progress (CAP).
CAP also reports that some small grocers and neighborhood bodegas rely on SNAP purchases for up to half of their revenue.
“We do tend to have a lot of customers that rely on EBT or WIC, or any other government benefits,” Sanchez said.
Roughly 600,000 SNAP recipients live in Los Angeles, and Sanchez said more than 50% of their customers rely on government assistance.
“As of right now, the sales are kind of slowly declining, but not as much as we thought they would,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez added he was concerned that those slowing sales could decline even further.
“We may not see many customers be able to afford the things that they could have before,” Sanchez said. “In terms of groceries, I feel like maybe they might not get as much. So, I feel like this impact is a negative impact for a lot of people within the community.”
Data from NielsenIQ shows 31% of SNAP consumers said they’d buy “less food” if their benefits were reduced.
“The people that I do know, I do see them kind of buying a little less and less every day,” Sanchez said.
Government pushback
Despite local grocers’ concerns about losing revenue, the USDA has told grocery stores not to offer special discounts to people who use food stamps.
Catherine Rampell, co-host of MSNBC’s The Weekend: Primetime, posted an email sent from the USDA to retailers around the country.
That message from the USDA comes despite the agency’s own data showing that every $1 given out in SNAP benefits generates $1.54 in economic activity.
“It’s pretty upsetting to kind of see some people having to go through this,” Sanchez said.
Despite potential revenue losses, Sanchez said, so far, there is no plan to reduce the workforce at his store.
But it’s definitely affecting some customers.
“A few customers I’ve seen, they have been seen to be upset, or maybe a little frantic, of the situation,” Sanchez said.
The post How the battle over SNAP benefits affects local grocers appeared first on Straight Arrow News.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
