Opinion | Hungry Families Shouldn’t Be a Political Bargaining Chip
Guest Op-ed by RF Buche
My family built our grocery stores on one belief — food is love, food is dignity and food is hope.
— RF Buche
I’ve spent my entire life in grocery stores. I am a fourth-generation grocer and President & CEO of GF Buche Co., a family business that has operated in rural and tribal communities for 120 years. Some of our customers are the poorest people in the United States and live in the most remote areas of South Dakota. I know the role local grocers play in our communities.
And right now, that need is growing.
The government shutdown has thrown the future of SNAP benefits into uncertainty for November, creating immediate hardship for families in tribal and rural communities. The South Dakota Department of Social Services has warned that future funding is uncertain, and communities must be ready to respond.
Families are anxious, wondering if and when they’ll be able to put food on the table next month. Children should not be burdened with this fear, nor should they sense the stress of parents deciding whether to skip meals. Even if benefits do land, the scheduled cuts coming in 2026 keep me up at night. Because I know exactly who will pay that price.
Parents working multiple jobs. Children relying on school lunches for their most dependable meal and sometimes their only meal. Elders choosing between groceries and medication. Veterans who have served their country now struggle to feed themselves.
When Washington plays politics, real families go hungry.
Midnight on SNAP Day
Every month, when SNAP benefits arrive, we keep our stores open late in the communities that need us most. If you stand in one of my stores at midnight when benefits hit, you’ll see the truth firsthand: two shopping carts — one for groceries and one padded with a blanket where a child sleeps while their parents finally shop for food. Exhaustion. Hunger. Relief. For some families, this is the first food they’ve had in days.
There is nothing hypothetical about that moment. It happens every single month in South Dakota.
Hunger in Rural America Looks Different
In places like Pine Ridge, Mission, Marty, and Lower Brule, hunger isn’t about poor choices, it’s about barriers built into geography and economy — long distances, lack of transportation, limited access to jobs.
Across our state, more than 113,000 South Dakotans, including one in five children, struggle with food insecurity. These aren’t statistics in my stores. They are customers. They are real people we see every day.
This Isn’t Political — It’s Personal
I’m not interested in pointing fingers or arguing about which political party should take the blame. I’m interested in making sure kids don’t go to bed hungry while Congress plays games over a shutdown.
What’s happening to the most vulnerable isn’t a bargaining chip, it’s a moral failing.
It’s wrong, they’re playing with people’s lives. That these things are happening in this state, let alone this country, is unacceptable. We need to do better.
South Dakotans pride ourselves on taking care of one another. When one neighbor struggles, others lift them up. That’s not charity, that’s who we are. When one neighbor faces a hard year, the rest of us come together to ensure no one is left behind.
But right now, policies written thousands of miles away are pushing more families to the edge.
SNAP Works — Cuts Will Hurt the Wrong People
SNAP isn’t a luxury, it is the backbone of food access for struggling households.
It supports:
Working parents whose wages haven’t kept up with inflation
Seniors stretching every dollar
Kids who deserve nourishment to learn and grow
Veterans who deserve better than survival mode
When SNAP dollars enter a rural grocery store, they support the entire community. They keep doors open, shelves stocked and jobs local.
Cutting this support, especially during a shutdown, is not responsible governance.
We Are Doing Our Part — Washington Must Do Theirs
Through our nonprofit, Team Buche Cares, we are launching an Emergency SNAP Support Program to provide $100 grocery certificates to as many families affected by the loss of SNAP support as funds will allow. 100% of Team Buche Cares funds go directly to food assistance — no administrative fees, no delay. We are doing everything we can to fill the gaps. We help where we can, including urgent grocery assistance when a family requests support, because hunger doesn’t operate on a government timeline.
Other nonprofit partners across the state are working hard and need support, because philanthropy cannot replace federal responsibility. Even in South Dakota, one of the most generous states in the nation, we cannot solve hunger solely through good intentions and fundraisers. Donors help thousands. SNAP helps tens of thousands.
Hungry Children Shouldn’t Have to Wait
What’s happening right now isn’t a policy debate to the families we serve. It’s dinner. Stability. Survival.
It’s time for Congress to remember:
You can’t delay a child’s next meal because negotiations stalled
You can’t cut food support for seniors and call yourself pro-family
You can’t treat SNAP like a bargaining chip and deny the reality on the ground
This is about what kind of country we choose to be.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers on federal budgeting, but I do know this — at an early age, my father taught me that it is our moral obligation in the grocery business to make sure nobody goes hungry. That has been my guiding principle in the work I do, and the work my team does at GF Buche Co. and Team Buche Cares, every single day.
In the United States of America, in the heart of South Dakota, no child should have to worry about eating.
So, here’s what I’m asking Congress to do:
End the shutdown
Fully fund SNAP for November
Reverse the cuts planned for 2026
Remember the families living with the consequences
My family built our grocery stores on one belief — food is love, food is dignity and food is hope. I am simply continuing their work for a new generation that needs us more than ever.
South Dakotans take care of each other. Caring for our neighbors, sharing in times of plenty and ensuring no one is forgotten, those are the values that make our state strong.
It’s time for Washington to do the same.
Author Bio: RF Buche is the President & CEO of GF Buche Co. and Founder of Team Buche Cares. He is a fourth-generation grocer serving rural and tribal communities across South Dakota, where his family’s business has operated for 120 years.
SNAP Emergency Donation Fund link: teambuchecares.org