Business
As SNAP Cuts Go Into Effect, Independent Grocers Prepare for the Impact
Major changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, mean an estimated 120,000 Illinois residents are at risk of losing benefits.
The changes to SNAP outlined in what President Donald Trump dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” go into effect this month and require thousands of Illinois households to fulfill new work requirements or submit for an exemption.
National enrollment for SNAP decreased by nearly 4.3 million from January 2025 to January 2026, according to government data released by the Agriculture Department. But these changes aren’t just impacting those who rely on SNAP benefits to feed themselves and their families, some independent grocers say they are also being hurt by the cuts.
Some independent grocers, like Logan Square’s Dill Pickle Co-Op, are at risk of losing significant revenue.
“We have about 20% of our sales come from SNAP beneficiaries in our grocery store,” said I’Talia McCarthy, general manager of the Dill Pickle Co-Op. “Including a lot of our staff who are participating in the SNAP program as well. We’ve definitely seen a decline, but we’ve also seen uplifting from the community.”
Revenue was not the only impact the SNAP cuts had on Dill Pickle.
When the changes were first announced, McCarthy said staff members were rushing to make the necessary adjustments in order to remain qualified for the program.
The work included reevaluating which products were eligible for SNAP under new changes, something McCarthy describes as a lengthy process.
McCarthy said the co-op has started a few initiatives to alleviate the burden felt by the cuts, including a 10% discount for SNAP recipients and a $10 LINK match program for produce.
The co-op has also started donating to local food pantries through a program in which customers purchase a $10 bag worth of products that are then donated.
McCarthy remains optimistic that the new programs are sustainable and that being a Co-Op allows the grocery store to maintain these efforts because it’s what members and the community vote for.
In Forest Park, the staff at Living Fresh Market needed to get creative in order to help their shoppers who might be struggling with a loss of benefits.
Melody Winston, senior director of Living Fresh Market, says her store has seen a 15% decrease in revenue, however November’s temporary pause in benefits served as a warning of what the current cuts could look like.
“When it (benefits) ended in November and took a brief pause, we saw a community nervous about how they were going to get fresh foods on their tables,” Winston said. “And so at that time we started our 60-second shopping sprees.”
Living Fresh Market would partner with people to donate toward the shopping sprees. On Saturdays, they would host raffles where the winners would come into the store and fill up their shopping cart with as much as they could within 60 seconds.
Winston adds her program is absolutely not enough to cover people while SNAP cuts remain, noting that initiatives like hers are a small drop in meeting the need for food insecurity.
Often there is a stigma associated with receiving assistance from LINK or SNAP, which were formerly called food stamps. At a time where more people are struggling and the price of groceries have risen by 21% in the last five years, Winston hopes to break that stigma.
“We ask people to come out to participate who really do need food, but the way that we handle it is a way full of dignity and honor,” she said. “And they see people cheering for them, so we try to get rid of that stigma.”
While the programs at the Dill Pickle Co-Op and Living Fresh Market aim to alleviate hardship, Nolan Downey, senior director of policy at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, says it’s not enough.
“We’re always going to do everything that we can to make sure that people coming to one of our pantry partners are leaving with food. But we cannot replace these programs,” Downey adds.
For every one meal the depository is able to provide, SNAP, prior to the cuts, was able to provide nine more.
This month, 120,000 Illinoisans have lost their SNAP benefits, including 16,000 immigrants and refugees with legal protected status who were all eligible for benefits for decades, Downey said.
Though, he stresses that those who may have lost benefits in the state of Illinois, may still have another shot at accessing benefits.
“Many of the 120,000 people who lost benefits are actually exempt from the work requirements,” he said. “They just need to submit paperwork to the Department of Human Services to get back on the program.
Downey also wants to remind people that the state of Illinois plays a role in stepping up to the situation.
“I want people to know that we’re not powerless in this. There are things that we can do at the state level,” Downey said, alluding to proposed state legislation called the Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger (FRESH) Act.
The proposal would provide a one-time $600 emergency payment to those who have lost benefits due to the new eligibility requirements.
For some grocers, it’s still too early to tell whether changes to SNAP will impact their bottom line.
“I think that when you’re in your first year of operation, you’re just trying to figure out what your trends are and what your patterns are,” said Elizabeth Abunaw, owner and operator of Forty Acres Fresh Market, which opened in the fall in the Austin neighborhood. “One month SNAP could make up 10% of our revenue, the next month it could make up 15% — what you’re looking for is a 12-month average and we’ve only been open for eight months. So, it’s really hard to get your barring when the ground beneath you keeps shifting every two to six months.”
Abunaw said operating a grocery store is a difficult task in an ordinary environment, but that in the current political realm, with rapidly increasing costs and an unpredictable market, her job’s difficulty is soaring.
