SNAP Cuts in Federal Budget Could Force Grocery Store Closures in Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. — Cuts to federal food assistance programs included in recently passed budget legislation could force grocery stores to close across Kansas, creating new food deserts in communities that already struggle with access to fresh food, according to grocery operators and researchers.

The legislation, which President Donald Trump signed into law, is projected to remove about 27,000 Kansans from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program while shifting an estimated $56 million in additional annual costs to the state.

Laura Marsh, marketing director at the Merc Co+op, said SNAP purchases account for 5% of total sales at the cooperative's Lawrence and Kansas City, Kansas, locations.

"In grocery, where margins are tight, small dips can have a big impact," Marsh said. "Cuts to SNAP — particularly at this scale — will be deeply felt."

Grocery stores typically operate on net profit margins of just 1% to 2%, according to Stephanie Johnson, group vice president at the National Grocers Association. Some stores depend on food assistance programs for up to 70% of their sales, she said.

"Those grocers in those low-income communities will really be fighting for their lives," Johnson said.

The budget cuts affect food assistance in several ways, including imposing new work requirements and removing undocumented immigrants from the program. Kansas would lose all SNAP funding if it doesn't absorb the additional costs shifted from federal to state budgets.

Bekah Selby-Leach, director of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University, said the reductions will likely force more grocery stores to close, though researchers don't have precise estimates for how many or where.

"The answer to that is a little bit nuanced," she said, noting that rural areas will be hit hard but urban areas won't be immune.

Research from the University of California, Davis Center for Poverty Research found that SNAP's original implementation increased grocery store sales by 1% to 2% and employment by 3% to 5%.

A recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey found that 53% of adults say grocery prices are a major source of stress.

The Merc Co+op began in Lawrence in 1974 as a group of neighbors pooling money to buy bulk foods like eggs, milk and produce. The cooperative eventually opened stores with the mission of ensuring community access to healthy, affordable food.