Published April 24, 2025
Gina Plata-Nino, JD, FRAC Deputy Director of SNAP, and Brian Posler, Executive Director of Fuel True – Independent Energy and Convenience
This article is part of a series exploring the impacts of proposed SNAP cuts. Today, we hear from Brian Posler, the executive director of Fuel True — Independent Energy and Convenience in Kansas, about how these cuts could affect rural communities and local economies.
Tell Us About Fuel True and the Role of Convenience Stores in Rural Kansas.
Fuel True — Independent Energy and Convenience is a statewide nonprofit trade association representing Kansas’s independent energy distributors and over 1,800 fuel retailers.
In many rural Kansas towns, the local convenience store is the last remaining source of food. We’re not just places to fuel your car — we’re where you go to buy a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, or a dozen eggs. There are entire areas where the nearest grocery store is over 30 miles away. For folks who are older, have limited transportation, or are struggling financially, that local C-store is the only option.
How Do SNAP Dollars Flow Through These Small Stores?
Customers use SNAP to buy basic, essential items — things like milk and bread that come with low margins. But we carry those items anyway, because people need them. Our members accept SNAP not to make money, but because they care about serving their communities.
Cuts to SNAP would hurt both sides of that equation. Families would have less to spend on food, and small stores — especially in remote areas — would see a sharp drop in already thin revenue. That puts their entire business at risk. And when a store in a rural town closes, it rarely reopens. That’s how a food desert forms overnight. When you talk about cutting SNAP, you’re not just talking about families losing access to food. You’re talking about communities losing their only food source altogether.
Can You Speak to the Challenges of Accepting SNAP for Small Retailers?
For many of our smaller members, especially mom-and-pop operations, accepting SNAP already comes with costs and complexities. They don’t have fancy point-of-sale systems or IT [Information Technology] departments. They do it anyway, because they know how much their community relies on them.
But if the program is underfunded — or if fewer families qualify or receive adequate benefits — there’s less reason for stores to keep offering SNAP at all. It becomes harder to justify the effort when there’s not enough usage to cover the cost.
How Would Cuts to SNAP Affect Rural Communities Overall?
The ripple effects would be huge. Less spending at stores means less revenue for small businesses. That can lead to layoffs, shorter store hours, or complete closures. And that’s not just a food access issue — it’s a rural vitality issue.
In Kansas, we’ve already seen communities lose key services and businesses, from banks to post offices. When the convenience store goes, that’s often the final blow. We are the ones keeping the lights on — literally and figuratively — in a lot of these towns.
What Message Do You Want Lawmakers to Hear About SNAP and Rural America?
If you care about rural communities, you have to care about SNAP. It’s one of the few programs that reaches everyone — the kids, the seniors, the working families. And it doesn’t just help the people using the benefits. It supports the entire local economy.
Cutting SNAP would be cutting off the lifeline for too many people who need it. It would drive up hunger, close down businesses, and deepen rural decline.
This program isn’t about handouts. It’s about stability. It’s about giving people the ability to make it through a rough patch — and giving small towns a fighting chance.
