CLEVELAND — At his family’s corner store on Cleveland’s East Side, George Dixon is already seeing the fallout from disruptions to the food-stamp program.
Customers are anxious. As the federal government shutdown drags on, they don’t know when their November benefits will arrive – and how much money they’ll get. They’re buying cheaper items, like ramen noodles, and being more hesitant about meat and eggs.
“People are just … trying to figure out how they’re gonna feed their kids – and get to the next day,” said Dixon, a third-generation business owner in the Hough neighborhood.
He and his family are budgeting, too. More than half the shoppers at Dixon’s Market depend on food stamps, or SNAP, to help pay for groceries. And that federal money, in turn, covers daily expenses, from purchasing to paychecks.
“At the end of the day, we have to be able to keep the lights on here,” Dixon said.
In September, Northeast Ohio households in News 5’s coverage area received more than $85 million in SNAP benefits, according to data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The federal anti-hunger program, administered by the state, pumps more than $1 billion a year into the regional economy.
And for small retailers, that spending can have a huge impact.
The National Grocers Association, which represents independently owned stores, says SNAP supports more than 9,000 grocery-industry jobs across Ohio – generating more than $323.6 million in payroll at stores, from bodegas to supermarkets.
At Dixon’s, in a low-income neighborhood where there aren’t many places to shop, customers carrying EBT cards come in early to buy breakfast – and keep coming all day.
“What’s on my card right now is from last month’s benefits,” said Janiah Gales, who popped by Thursday afternoon. “So I’m just trying to hold onto them as best as I can.”
Gales walked to the store with her 1-year-old daughter bundled up and strapped to her chest. She’s pregnant, with a baby due in February, and doesn’t have a working car. She spends her SNAP benefits at corner stores and a local supermarket a few miles away.
Her payment typically arrives in the middle of the month. Without that money, she’ll have to choose between buying food and paying rent and utility bills.
“As of right now, I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” she said.
Dixon and his family have been watching the news and trying to keep up with all the tumult over the SNAP program. They didn’t believe the federal government would really halt benefits payments on Nov. 1, just weeks before Thanksgiving.
“We were like, okay, this is just politicians playing their political games. It’s not gonna happen,” he said. “But then when it happened, we were like, wow.”
Cities, nonprofits and religious groups sued, and federal judges ordered the Trump administration to resume benefits payments. The government initially said it would dip into emergency funds to provide partial payments, which could be delayed for weeks.
On Thursday, a federal judge in Rhode Island told the administration to fully fund November benefits by Friday. The Trump administration immediately filed an appeal.
“I’m 38 years old, and I’ve never seen something like this in my lifetime,” Dixon said.
Other retailers are similarly flummoxed—and frustrated.
At Mustard Seed Market & Café in Akron, more than 5% of the customers use SNAP benefits. The family-owned grocer moved into the Highland Square neighborhood in 2015 to fill a food desert, bringing natural and organic foods to a block other retailers bypassed.
“We don’t want to just sell healthy foods to the privileged,” said Abraham Nabors, a second-generation business owner. “We want to sell healthy food to everybody.”
When fewer shoppers have money to spend on fresh produce, meat or private-label products, that “sends a ripple effect up the food chain,” Nabors said.
“Our local eggs, for example,” he said. “The less orders we have for them, it directly affects the local economy.”
As a small business, with only two stores, Mustard Seed can move quickly to adjust its purchasing and adapt to changes in the market, Nabors said. But he hopes that won’t be necessary – for his customers’ sake.
“My heart goes out to everybody that’s affected by this,” he said of the uncertainty around SNAP benefits. “And I really hope this disruption ends as soon as possible.”
In Cleveland, Dixon agreed. And he had a message for federal lawmakers.
“You were elected by the people, and the people did not put you there to make them hungry,” he said. “This is not a political issue. It’s not a Republican, Democrat, independent issue. It’s a human rights issue. And every human deserves to be able to eat.”
