Published April 17, 2025
Gina Plata-Nino, JD, FRAC Deputy Director of SNAP, and Stephanie Johnson, RDN, Group Vice President, Government Relations and Political Affairs, National Grocers Association
This article is part of a series examining the sweeping and often overlooked consequences of proposed SNAP cuts, sharing a range of perspectives — from health experts and policy leaders to frontline grocers and rural providers — about the ripple effects of slashing the nation’s most critical anti-hunger program. Beyond the headlines, these changes threaten to destabilize families, shutter small businesses, and weaken local economies.
Tell Us About Your Role and the Members You Represent?
As vice president of the National Grocers Association, I help represent the needs and interests of independent grocers across the country. These are the true entrepreneurs of the grocery industry — privately owned businesses, often by families or employees, operating a wide variety of retail formats.
Our members are deeply rooted in the communities they serve. They’re not just stores —they’re neighbors, employers, and community partners who are passionate about providing quality goods, offering nourishing foods, and being a consistent, reliable presence in the lives of the people they serve.
What Is Your Perspective on the Proposed Cuts and Restrictions to SNAP?
Given the size of the cuts that are proposed to SNAP, independent grocers are concerned about their ability to contribute to their local economies by creating jobs and feeding families. Some stores in low-income neighborhoods have more than 50 percent SNAP sales. A 20 percent cut to SNAP would make it very difficult for stores like this, in food deserts, to remain open. These changes wouldn’t just hurt the individuals who rely on the program — low-income families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities — but would also have serious ripple effects throughout our local economies.
SNAP is critical to helping families afford nutritious food and reduce hunger. It’s also a powerful economic driver. In 2020, SNAP supported nearly 199,000 jobs within the independent grocery industry and another 45,000 jobs in related industries like agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and local services.
Can You Speak to SNAP’s Broader Economic Impact?
Absolutely. The jobs required to administer SNAP at the grocery-store level generated over $6.7 billion in grocery industry wages. When you include supporting industries, that number grows to more than $9.4 billion.
Even though SNAP purchases aren’t taxed, the economic activity they generate is substantial. In 2020 alone, SNAP-related purchases contributed over $1 billion to federal tax revenues and nearly $975 million in state and local tax revenues.
How Would SNAP Cuts Affect Local Communities and the Grocery Industry?
When families in our communities have fewer resources to meet basic needs like food, it creates a domino effect. For our grocers, it also threatens their ability to maintain jobs, keep our doors open in underserved areas, and continue being a reliable source of food and employment.
Independent grocers are often the only full-service store in rural and low-income areas. SNAP cuts risk destabilizing not just individual households, but the businesses and workers who keep these communities going. As someone who sees the work of our grocers, I can tell you: cuts to SNAP don’t just impact recipients — they impact entire local communities.
