The National Grocers Association (NGA), the trade association representing the independent supermarket industry, issued the following statement from Greg Ferrara, NGA president and CEO, in response to the release of President Trump’s FY 2021 budget proposal:
“Independent grocers are indispensable partners with the federal government to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), serving millions of low-income households in rural and urban areas nationwide. Once again, a proposal to transform SNAP into a box delivery system was included in the FY 2021 budget proposal and it remains tremendously concerning to our members. Grocers play a critical role in distributing SNAP benefits to Americans in need in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible, and the Harvest Box proposal would undermine the foundation that the SNAP public-private partnership was built upon. A 2018 economic analysis of the Harvest Box proposal found that, if enacted, the proposal would cost U.S. food retailers $23 billion in sales. The analysis also found that over 211,700 grocery retail jobs would be lost, with a grand total of almost 368,500 direct and indirect job losses throughout the economy.
Fortunately, the Harvest Box proposal has been rejected in Congress, due to NGA’s vigorous advocacy efforts and concerns from local, independent grocers across the nation over the past two years. We look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to find commonsense solutions that support Main Street grocers and grow local economies.”
