Remember our multi-part series on the 2023 Farm Bill three years ago? Well, as it played out, there never was a 2023 Farm Bill. Lacking the votes to get a new one over the line, the 2018 Farm Bill has instead been extended three times, with the bill now set to expire this September. This year, there’s finally been movement on a new Farm Bill—which, in case you forgot, is a food and agriculture megabill (typically) passed every five years. In late April, the House passed a $390 billion Farm Bill. The bill now heads to the Senate, and will likely face Democratic opposition, as it codifies $187 billion in cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—the largest-ever cut in SNAP funding, established in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) passed last July. Solidifying the historical cuts for the next five years could have considerable impacts on consumers, retailers, and local economies, as SNAP participation has already fallen by 8% (or more than 3 million people) between the OBBBA’s passage and January 2026, and could continue to decline. That could have ripple effects across the economy. Every $1 in SNAP benefits produces $1.50–$1.80 in economic activity, Sara Bleich, professor of health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in November. And SNAP households make up 12% of grocery sales, per the National Grocers Association. During a lapse in SNAP funding last fall, recipients’ household grocery spending dropped by 10% during the weeks of October 5 to October 26, Numerator reported. Ahead of OBBBA’s passage last year, the Center for American Progress found SNAP cuts could put more than 27,000 retailers—including Walmart, Target, Albertsons, and Dollar General locations—at risk of financial burden. Keep reading here.—EC | 
