Up to 42 million Americans and over 100,000 Hamilton County residents did not receive their SNAP benefits at the start of November. The food program is in limbo as the government shutdown continues into its second month. On Friday, two federal judges ruled that the Trump administration had to use SNAP contingency funds to immediately fund the program. The ruling gave Trump until Monday to come up with a plan for using the emergency funds, which he previously claimed would be illegal, though he tapped such funds during his first term.
In Monday court filings, the administration said it would dedicate the entire $4.65 billion in contingency funds to SNAP, but this will only cover about half of the $8 billion program.
The court order says the partial funds must be distributed by Wednesday, but the administration has said calculating and distributing partial payments could take longer.
Impacts to businesses
Cincinnati food pantries are working in high gear to feed families – they’ve asked for cash and volunteers to help meet the surging need – but some area businesses are bracing for a dip in sales from the loss of SNAP.
Food giants like Kroger, which captures 8% of all SNAP dollars in the U.S., are expected to take a hit from the SNAP pause, but Findlay Market is also bracing for a severe gut-punch.
“Over 50% of the people that shop at Findlay Market are on some sort of nutrition benefit program,” said Outdoor Market Manager Carly Hayes. “It might not be SNAP, but we also run other nutrition benefit programs throughout the year…these are all affected by the USDA cuts and SNAP cuts as well.”
Many of these customers live in Over-the-Rhine, Hayes said. So far in 2024, Findlay Market distributed over $170,000 in SNAP benefits on site and through the Findlay Market shopping app. Those numbers don’t include individual SNAP transactions that are made directly at vendors’ stalls.
“That represents a large percentage of sales for many of our fresh food merchants,” Hayes said.
Findlay Market customers can convert their SNAP dollars into tokens at the market’s help center desk. The yellow tokens make it possible to shop vendors who don’t have a card reader for the electronic benefits transfer card (EBT), though some vendors can swipe EBT. Findlay Market has a map showing which vendors can only take the tokens. But the token system also allows SNAP customers to get more out of their benefits. The market’s Produce Perks program matches the number of yellow tokens with special green tokens that can be spent on fresh produce from specific vendors.
Toncia Chavez runs ETC Produce & Provisions at Findlay Market, accepting both yellow and green Produce Perks tokens. She said her employees are often the first to explain how the benefits work to new SNAP recipients.
“They ask us a lot of questions, and they’re usually whispering because they’re a little bit embarrassed,” Chavez said. “And I want to tell those people, don’t be embarrassed. Give yourself some grace…we will answer all your questions. We will help you with what you need to get. We will walk you around the market, if that’s what it takes, and I have done that for some people, but give yourself some grace and don’t be ashamed.”
The green tokens are not only a lifeline for SNAP recipients, but also the vendors who accept them at their booths.
“These guys that come on the weekend are farmers. They come from Indiana, from Northern Kentucky, they come from Ohio all over,” Hayes said. “It helps keep the money local to Findlay Market, and it just continues to allow those vendors to keep growing produce, to keep coming here and making items to provide food access.”
Speaking to Reuters, David Ortega, professor of food economics at Michigan State University, warned even large grocery store chains may have to raise prices to maintain thin margins amid the SNAP pause, but he said smaller grocery stores will be hit the hardest.
“Especially if you’re looking at a small-size grocery store in a low income area, this is quite concerning for them,” Ortega said.
Hayes is concerned that Findlay Market shoppers may assume the prices will be lower at large grocery chains, but she said that’s not actually the case.
“There’s this misconception that shopping at Findlay Market is expensive,” she said. “If you price the certain cuts of chicken, it actually is less per pound here than it is from Kroger or from a bigger box store, […] it is also more fresh.”
Then there’s the incalculable benefits. Hayes said shopping at Findlay Market is a community experience, and the loss of SNAP benefits puts that connection on pause.
“It weakens the bond between our community and the market that it feeds,” she said. “It forces you to go to Kroger and go to Walmart, because they have such a larger infrastructure and they can take the bigger hit without being affected to the same level that our vendors and our merchants and the farmers are…you’re taking away programs that are promoting healthy eating, farm-to-consumer produce. You get to meet the farmers here who grow the produce you eat; you don’t get that from Kroger.”
Looking ahead
In October, Findlay Market sent a letter to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine asking for his support on Ohio House Bill 502. The bill from State Rep. Latyna Humphrey (D-Columbus) was introduced in early October and makes an emergency appropriation to continue to fund SNAP through the Budget Stabilization Fund should there be a federal funding lapse. Humphrey’s bill was never given a public hearing and never considered for a full vote in the Ohio House of Representatives.
On Friday, DeWine signed an executive order requiring the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to allocate $7 million in TANF funds to regional food banks and $18 million to Ohio Works First recipients, about 63,000 low-income Ohioans including more than 57,000 children. About 1.5 million Ohioans use SNAP in total.
“Advocate for the importance of SNAP,” Hayes said when asked how people can help Findlay Market’s SNAP customers right now. “Advocate for the importance of having access to fresh produce. Advocate for people on nutrition benefit programs that they have the choice to decide where they want to shop.”
Those who are not impacted by the SNAP pause can also support fresh food access and local farmers by shopping more at Findlay Market, Hayes said, reminding us that it’s not as expensive as you think.
“We have anything from standard agricultural practices all the way up to heirloom produce,” she said. “You can grocery shop here and it doesn’t have to be this expensive narrative that goes along with it. You can choose your path.”
