Walmart Profits off Food Stamp Recipients—Who Cares?

Last Friday, Walmart filed an
annual
report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. On a
list of the many factors that could hurt the company
financially—federal interest rate changes, natural disasters,
cyberattacks, untimely trend identification—Walmart
also included “changes in the amount of payments” made under
the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and
other public assistance programs.  

This seems relatively reasonable and noncontroversial, no?
Walmart is known for having low prices and catering to a low-income
crowd. Some low-income families rely on SNAP benefits, aka food
stamps, to buy their groceries. Drastic cuts to the SNAP program
might result in poor families buying less food and, therefore,
spending less at Walmart. Walmart is a for-profit company, and
therefore things that decrease profits are viewed as
risks. 

And, yet, some folks are
trying to frame Walmart’s realistic assessment of its customer
base and liabilities as an admission of some sort of nefarious
strategy. It’s very odd. Food stamp users have to shop somewhere,
and Walmart is often cheaper than other grocery stores and has more
(and healthier) options than the local bodega or
7-Eleven. 

I suppose the animosity shouldn’t be surprising—Walmart can do
no right in some eyes—but that Walmart is an affordable and
accessible option for many on food stamps seen like a benefit to
me, not a bug. If there is cause to be upset at here, it’s the fact
that so many Americans are unemployed, living in poverty, and
forced to rely on food stamps in the first place. It is not the
fact that a company provides them with a place to buy affordable
food (no matter how much you might personally not like that
company).