On July 31, 2025, more than 30 cross-sector partners gathered in Columbia, Missouri, meeting inside the incredible new Food Bank Market at The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri. Convened as the Missouri Rural Food Access Partnership, our charge was clear: to understand how the newly-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is reshaping our food system and to use those insights when building a Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) for Missouri that strengthens sustainable access to healthy food for our state.
What the Bill Changed and Why It Matters for Food Access
The Partnership reviewed the $186 billion reduction to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and what it means for consumers and retailers. Because SNAP represents roughly 9% of grocery spending, benefit cuts translate quickly into thinner margins—especially in Missouri communities that already combine high SNAP participation with limited food access. As purchasing power drops, small and rural grocers operating on razor-thin margins face heightened closure risk, which in turn reduces access points. Every $1 in SNAP generates about $1.50 in broader economic activity, so when households have fewer SNAP dollars to spend, they either divert money from other bills to cover the grocery gap or go without.
We also examined the school-day ripple effects. Many students qualify for free or reduced-price school meals through SNAP “direct certification.” If families lose SNAP eligibility, children may lose that automatic access, increasing costs for households and administrative burdens for schools.
Co-presenter Rachel Hassani, Director of Education and Engagement at the Missouri Rural Health Association, detailed how OBBBA would reshape Medicaid in Missouri: a projected $21.1 billion reduction over the next decade could push roughly 170,000 Missourians off coverage—tightening household budgets and leaving less for groceries. Beyond individual harm, the heightened risk of rural hospital and clinic closures erodes community “health anchors” that screen for food insecurity and connect families to nutrition resources (such as WIC referrals, produce-prescription programs, and food bank partners), compounding travel distances to both care and full-service grocers and ultimately weakening food access across small towns.
Co-presenter Kimberly Buckman, Director of Advocacy and Communications at Feeding Missouri, outlined the ripple effects food banks expect statewide. As grocery stores are squeezed—or shuttered—the donations that they provide will shrink. That decline translates directly to fewer goods on pantry shelves and fewer emergency food options for Missourians. In short, as need increases, supply diminishes.
Co-presenter Sheridan Garman-Neeman, Chief Operations Officer at New Growth CDC, briefed the partnership on funding reductions to the USDA Heartland Regional Food Business Center. Originally awarded $25 million to operate through 2027 and build sustainable, collaborative infrastructure for food businesses and supply chains, the Center is now slated to end normal operations on September 15, 2025; a small skeletal team will remain only to close out awards and obligations through May 2026.
The Partnership also heard from Associate Extension Professor at MU Extension Health and Human Sciences, Kimberly J.M. Keller, PhD, on the elimination of SNAP-Ed. SNAP-Ed is a federally funded, evidence-based program that partnered with the University of Missouri Extension to deliver practical nutrition education where people live, learn, and work. It helped eligible individuals stretch food budgets, cook healthy meals, and be more active. While this program was eliminated under the OBBA, there are active campaigns to reinstate funding in the federal budget. Meanwhile, Kimberly shared that the University is doing their best to continue outreach and education with the means they have available.
Taken together, the OBBBA-driven cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, the reduction of food bank donations, the Heartland Center’s funding cliff, and the loss of SNAP-Ed point to a tougher road ahead—but these challenges have also clarified our path and further fueled our resolve. The Missouri Rural Food Access Partnership will use these insights while building a targeted Healthy Food Financing Initiative that stabilizes rural grocers, strengthens regional value-chain infrastructure, and protects household purchasing power. In short, we left Columbia with a shared mandate: turn urgency into investment so that every Missouri community can count on reliable, affordable, healthy food close to home.
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