The deep cuts Republicans made to federal nutrition programs this summer are poised to devastate independent grocery stores that are central to many low-income communities, including those that voted for President Donald Trump.
Food aid recipients often make up the majority of small grocers’ customer base in remote areas and food deserts — places that have limited options for fresh, healthy food.
But a central part of paying for the GOP policy megabill Trump signed on July 4 relied on slashing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the nation’s largest anti-hunger initiative.
Even though some provisions in the new law won’t go into effect for another three years, others, like expanded work requirements for SNAP participants, could kick some families out of the program and hit the bottom lines of small grocery stores within months. It’s a chain reaction set off in Washington that’s likely to reshape how people access food in more isolated communities even if they don’t use federal assistance.
“I lean pretty heavily right most of the time, but one of the things that I do lean to the left on is we’re a pretty wealthy country, we can help people out,” said St. Johns, Arizona, Mayor Spence Udall, whose town overwhelmingly supported Trump in 2024.
“The businesses that will be affected most by this are the businesses that are most disadvantaged, that are struggling, and you’re going to find that in the rural markets,” he added.
Udall’s community, which sits halfway between — but still far from — Phoenix and Albuquerque, has one grocery store and one local food bank serving over 3,500 people. If the store shutters due to the food aid cuts, the next closest option for groceries is roughly 30 miles away.
Republicans’ overhaul of the anti-hunger program will lead to thousands of job losses and a drop in revenue across the agriculture, retail grocery and food processing industries, according to a study from the Commonwealth Fund.
Independent grocers said in interviews that they are considering cutting staff or pivoting to e-commerce and delivery services to stave off some of the anticipated profit loss.
“I’d just as soon cut a leg off than have my customers out in the poorest county of the United States go without food. That just isn’t an option in my mind,” said RF Buche, the owner of the only grocery store for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. “It is as essential as anything that is in that area.”
Between 60 percent and 80 percent of Buche’s customers rely on SNAP, accounting for nearly half of his revenue. Buche said he’s weighing layoffs in order to keep his doors open.
Republican lawmakers, many of whom represent districts with substantial numbers of food aid recipients, defended their megabill, saying the cuts will ultimately help low-income families and their local communities.
“Grocers are good people, hard-working families, and they only make a 1 to 2 percent margin,” said House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.), a top negotiator in the plan to slash SNAP. “A significant number of people who currently are on SNAP through unemployment will now be climbing a ladder of opportunity, which [means] they’ll be able to have more resources to buy more food. So our grocers are going to do well with this.”
Thompson said grocers have been “the victim of fear mongering by the Democrats” and the benefits restrictions will be a boon to their industry.
Democrats like Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) disagree and are exploring ways to mitigate the SNAP cuts through upcoming legislation and negotiations.
“We’ll use every tool at our disposal,” said Brown, deputy ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee. “I know there’s been some conversation around a skinny farm bill, and I don’t know, candidly, what that will look like. But if there’s any opportunity to reverse course or to supplement funds, I will certainly do that.”
Several Republican and Democratic state officials have already warned that it will be difficult to backfill the loss of federal dollars. They will need to consider redirecting funds from existing programs, cutting benefits, raising taxes or finding some alternative method to protect their budgets.
“I don’t think any state is going to cut [SNAP benefits],” Thompson said. “If they do, the governors and state legislators that do the cuts are not going to be governors and state legislators for very long.”
Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) said that his state is bracing for “tens of thousands of people” losing access to SNAP.
“The key here is that if we keep enough folks buying at local rural grocery stores, those local rural grocery stores have a higher chance to survive,” Vasquez said. “We have to make sure folks either have money in their pocket and that states can make up the shortfall in SNAP cuts to preserve that access, or for other folks, provide alternate means to be able to feed them.”
Tom Charley owns Charley Family Shop ‘N Save in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, a town about an hour outside of Thompson’s district. Like Buche, Charley is considering reducing his workforce as he braces for the megabill cuts to slice into his store’s already razor-thin profit margin.
“When you’re talking about cutting out that substantial size of funding that goes directly to these customers, it means that there’s going to be less people working in our stores because of it, just from the pure fact that we have to make sure that our budgets are extremely tight because all of the competition,” Charley said.
If a community loses a grocery store, especially a rural community, the economic impact is often broader than the individual store’s revenue loss, said Stephanie Johnson, vice president of government relations for the National Grocers Association.
In many areas, small grocery stores double as community hubs, hardware stores and stock products from local producers. Each SNAP dollar spent in a rural area generates $1.50 in local economic activity during recessions, per USDA data.
NGA is helping grocers seek clarity on how the SNAP cuts will be implemented in their states, according to Johnson.
“The grocery store employs 15 people, maybe more, and if we lose the grocery store, what do those people do?” said Udall, the St. Johns, Arizona, mayor. “It’s not just about people shopping at the grocery store. It has a ripple effect.”
Samuel Benson contributed to this report.