Ryan Brennecke / The BulletinRyan Couch, owner of The Vegetable Man Produce in Bend, organizes a container of asparagus in his stand along SE Third Street on Friday. Couch has changed the way his business accepts SNAP benefits following a lesser-known provision of the 2014 Farm Bill, which made it more expensive for him to process the cards.

Carol Williams has used a state-issued machine to ring up customers using government food benefits for healthy, local foods at her small natural foods store in Redmond for at least a dozen years.

Up until last year, the state picked up the cost of processing the charges to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, which provides food assistance to low-income families. But a lesser-known provision of the 2014 Farm Bill made it so that retailers must now either purchase the state’s machines or pay a monthly rental fee to use them.

Now Williams, the co-owner of Cornucopia Natural Foods & Deli, said she’s not sure if the $25 per month fee makes it worth accepting SNAP benefits. Despite having loyal SNAP customers who’ve been coming in for years, she’s considering dropping the program altogether.

“It definitely makes a difference,” she said of the new charges. “It makes us think, ‘You know, are we going to continue to support that?’”

Williams is among the minority of retailers who still use the state-issued food benefits machines. Most store owners run all of their customers’ cards — debit, credit and food benefits — through single machines and hire one processing company to track them all. They say it’s easier, more efficient and takes up less counter space.

“It just gets complicated if you don’t,” said Debbie Sloan, the owner of Nature’s General Store in Bend. She stopped using the state’s machine years ago.

But for the tiniest stores and produce vendors who bring in modest sales, some have found it helpful to take advantage of the free machines and benefits processing the state offered.

A handful of store owners in Central Oregon say the new charges are enough to make them question whether they’ll continue to accept SNAP at all.

More than 30 small natural foods stores, produce stands, farmers markets and meat shops in Central Oregon accept SNAP benefits, creating a wealth of opportunity for families who rely on the program to purchase locally grown produce and other healthy foods that aren’t always available at large grocery stores and convenience stores.

But that number could drop.

Gary Boyd, the owner of Great Earth Natural Foods in Madras, is one of the people mulling dropping SNAP, a program he has accepted for at least 15 years.

“It’s actually costing me money to continue to accept, so I don’t know how much longer we’re going to continue to be doing that,” he said.

After an electricity surge fried Cowboy Corner’s state-issued card-processing machine three months ago, the state told the owner of the Prineville convenience store he would have to pay for his own replacement. He decided not to, despite the fact that many customers used SNAP, said Jerry Johnson, the store’s assistant manager.

SNAP benefits can be used to buy breads, produce, meats, fish, dairy products and seeds and plants to grow food. They can also be used to buy soda, candy, cookies, cakes and some energy drinks, according to the U.S. Department of Food & Agriculture, which administers the program.

Congress has considered cutting junk food from the program, but concluded that designating certain foods as luxury items or non-nutritious would be too costly and burdensome.

SNAP cannot be used to purchase alcohol, cigarettes, non-food items, pet food, vitamins, foods that will be eaten in stores and hot foods, according to the USDA.

Bruce Barnhart, the president of Cash Register Systems in Bend, a company that sells and trains retailers to use card-processing equipment, said the Farm Bill change, which took effect in September 2014, prompted several of his customers who were using the state machines to switch to one system for all cards.

“It always makes sense to integrate at the point of sale,” he said. “It’s faster.”

Ryan Couch, the owner of The Vegetable Man, a produce market across the street from Fred Meyer in Bend, was among those who converted after the new charges started piling up. While making the switch, he contemplated dropping SNAP altogether.

“We were happy to do that for low-income people,” he said, “but when it becomes cost-prohibitive, you start to wonder whether this is worth it or not.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0304,

tbannow@bendbulletin.com