12% of all groceries in the US are purchased with SNAP benefits. WAY more in rural Trump counties.
An over simplification I know. Americans spend about $1 trillion in groceries every year according to their trade group. SNAP pays out about $122 billion every year. Add another $7.2 billion from WIC, which I assume is also over and you’re up around 13-14%. In a business that lives on a 1.7% profit margin. Math. I know. It sucks but there it is.
It’s way worse in rural areas that voted for this shit. There are counties in Kentucky and Alabama and whole states like Alaska where over 20% of groceries are bought with SNAP. Lots of them. In all 50 states. Those grocery stores will not survive the year without SNAP. Food deserts are about to become Food Sahara Deserts. And these stores won’t be coming back if/when Toddler Trump ends his latest Twumper Tantrum and re-opens the government. They’re gone forever.
It doesn’t end there. The Walmart and Kroger sized chains already have downsizing plans in the works. Walmart in Somerset, KY? Gone. Kroger in Madison, IN? Not anymore. Ingles in Swannanoa, NC? Not getting rebuilt as planned. The longer this keeps up, the fewer places we’ll be able to purchase groceries. And the more expensive what you can find will become.
[EDIT: Someone complained so….these are just examples of small and medium places where lots of people use SNAP and will likely see their grocery store choices curtailed. I have no actual knowledge of actual stores closing. These are just places I know well].
Yeah. We’re heading for Soviet style empty shelves without SNAP.
The Wave of Rural Unemployment Will Be Staggering
About 6.3 million people work in grocery stores and support industries. In many small and medium size towns, a quarter of the population works at Walmart. And someone works at/owns all those small grocery stores. I don’t have numbers for this part of the debacle, but let’s say 20% of these people lose their jobs. Largely in already struggling rural Trump Country. And there’s no safety net at all. Anywhere.
FRAC wrote a great summary of the consequences here.
SNAP as an Economic Stabilizer
SNAP is not only a poverty alleviation tool — it also acts as a powerful economic multiplier. Every $1 in SNAP benefits generates up to $1.80 in economic activity. In rural America, where small businesses operate on thinner margins, that support is often the difference between staying open and closing down.
This is particularly true for local grocers. In many rural towns, the local grocery store is the sole food retailer and depends on SNAP transactions to remain financially viable. When SNAP is cut, grocers experience an immediate loss of revenue. As these small retailers struggle or shutter, communities lose critical access points for healthy food. This creates a downward spiral: Fewer stores lead to more U.S. Department of Agriculture-designated low-income low-access areas, less local economic activity, and ultimately, reduced local and state tax revenue.
They were just talking about cuts to SNAP in the Big Beautiful Billionaire Giveaway, not the complete and abrupt end to the program. We’re looking at full economic and societal collapse in many areas. Starting next week. Not hyperbole. And as one famous Jamaican once said, “A hungry mob is an angry mob” and these people are very very well armed.
Remember the Holodomor
And it’s not like this will happen over months. It happens instantly. In 3 days. Nationwide. No time to adjust inventory purchases and planning for this sudden drop. It’s kinda like increasing the tariffs on auto parts used to make cars in America BEFORE building the factories to replace those parts. And arresting/intimidating the people who pick all of our food while placing punishing tariffs on imported food. Like someone is doing this on purpose to annihilate the American economy and starve everyone here. Reduce our population to 100 million people who look like Stephen Miller.
Kinda like the Holodomor.
No need for messy gas chambers when you can just systematically starve the entire nation and set them against each other.
Just sayin’ this is probably a good time to start planning your garden.
