Just over a year ago, Ryan Sprankle welcomed President Donald Trump to one of the three family-owned grocery stores near Pittsburgh. At the time, Trump was campaigning and spoke with Sprankle about the rising costs of groceries, even picking up a bag of popcorn during the visit.

Today, Sprankle’s message is quite different. If Trump or other lawmakers were to visit now, he’d express concern over the delayed distribution of SNAP benefits during the government shutdown, which has negatively impacted both his customers and his small chain of stores.

“Cutting resources from the country’s most vulnerable population is simply wrong,” Sprankle said. “It shows a lack of compassion, and everyone responsible needs to be held accountable.”

Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was halted by the Trump administration at the end of October, affecting access to food for about 42 million individuals. Although the U.S. Senate has approved a bill to restore government operations and SNAP funding, the House of Representatives has yet to act. It remains uncertain when SNAP payments will resume.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, SNAP recipients spent more than $96 billion in benefits in 2024. About 74% of those funds were used at large stores, including big-name retailers and some independent supermarkets like Sprankle’s. Smaller grocery and convenience stores made up about 14% of the total, often located in neighborhoods where recipients live.

An Economic Pipeline Interrupted

Etharin Cousin, who previously led the United Nations World Food Program and now runs a nonprofit focused on food systems, said the sudden halt in SNAP benefits had a swift impact on food retailers. Most of these businesses, whether large or small, operate with minimal profit margins of just 1% to 2%.

“SNAP isn't just about helping families survive. It also fuels local economies,” Cousin said. “From stores to regional distributors, SNAP funds keep communities going.”

While major retailers like Walmart and Kroger declined to comment on how the SNAP pause affected their business, Walmart highlighted its efforts to reduce prices and donate to local food banks.

Smaller retailers, however, feel the effects more quickly. Sprankle noted that his store in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, gets a quarter of its revenue from SNAP. Yet even shoppers not on SNAP are cutting back, opting for less expensive items or seeking help from food banks due to the broader economic uncertainty brought on by the shutdown.

The decline in sales also limits Sprankle’s ability to offer overtime hours to his 140 employees, creating concern about job security within his team.

“They have families, they have children, and they’re wondering what the holidays will look like,” he said. “Even if I need to sell my own truck, I'm going to make sure we still give out Christmas bonuses.”

In Chicago, Liz Abunaw, the founder and operator of Forty Acres Fresh Market, recently watched a customer abandon a cart full of groceries because she couldn’t cover the cost without SNAP support.

Abunaw launched her store in September after several years operating pop-up markets and delivery services. While SNAP currently accounts for about 12% of her store’s income, any drop in those purchases could slow growth and make it harder to pay employees, suppliers, and farmers who rely on her business.

“SNAP is more than assistance—it’s money cycling through the economy,” she said. “Its impact reaches far beyond just the grocery aisle.”

From Local Stores to Relief Centers

The SNAP suspension has also had immediate consequences for Kanbe’s Markets, a Kansas City nonprofit that supplies fresh produce to 110 local convenience stores. Maxfield Kaniger, the group’s founder and CEO, said they work to keep prices down by using both donations and bulk purchases from wholesalers.

Kanbe’s also supports 50 food pantries and soup kitchens across the region by providing them with fresh food.

After SNAP payments stopped on November 1, Kaniger said some of the stores they support experienced a sales drop of about 10%. Meanwhile, food pantries started requesting twice or even three times their usual orders.

Kaniger said his team now spends more to purchase food for their store coolers since more of their resources are going toward meeting increased demands from charitable organizations. The situation, he said, is deeply concerning.

“The fact that people are going hungry should be unacceptable—end of story,” he said.

Babir Sultan, who runs four FavTrip convenience stores in Kansas City, sells fresh produce from Kanbe’s, including potatoes, berries, and bananas. His stores are located in food deserts, so offering nutritious food options is essential for the surrounding communities.

Sultan noticed an 8% to 10% dip in customers early in November following the SNAP disruption. In response, he started offering $10 worth of free produce to SNAP users and said he is ready to help others who may be facing tough times.

“If someone needs help, we won’t turn them away,” Sultan said. “When our customers are struggling, we all feel it.”

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This report was compiled with contributions from Detroit-based reporter Durbin and data journalist Kasturi Pananjady in Philadelphia.