Essential Workers Serving Hunger: The Untold Story of Grocery Clerks Fighting Food Inflation

The aisles are stocked, the registers are ringing, yet the people who keep these stores running face an impossible choice: feed themselves or feed their families. Grocery clerks across the nation have become unexpected witnesses to America’s food affordability crisis, processing transactions while their own bank accounts run dry.

When Those Who Stock Food Can’t Afford It

Cynthia Hernandez works customer service at Ralphs in South Los Angeles, a role that demands she process purchases she herself cannot make. Her story mirrors that of thousands in the industry: “The emotional toll is visible and real. I have seen customers become visibly distressed and even break down in tears at the checkout when they realize they cannot afford the food they need.”

What Cynthia observes in her customers’ desperation echoes her own reality. As a single mother supporting three children and aging parents, she has witnessed the cascading effects of food inflation firsthand. When her SNAP benefits were cut, the impact was immediate and crushing. When they were restored, she had to stretch them across two households—her own and her 65-year-old mother’s.

Yet the numbers tell a story even more alarming than individual cases. Grocery prices have surged 35% since 2019, while consumers purchased 13 billion fewer product units compared to 2021. The top 10 most consumed categories—beef, soft drinks, eggs, milk, coffee, and salty snacks—saw an average price spike of 60% over the same period. For context, nominal wage growth during this time period reached just 22%, even for unionized grocery clerks.

The SNAP Trap and Impossible Trade-Offs

Over 40 million Americans currently rely on SNAP benefits, while food insecurity affects more than 47 million people across the nation. Individual SNAP benefits cap out around $187 monthly—far below what’s needed for nutritious eating. For families, the maximum reaches approximately $354 per month.

Cynthia adapted by abandoning variety entirely. “The goal is no longer about variety, preference or health; it’s about purchasing enough calories to get by, often sacrificing nutritional value for cost,” she explained. Her shopping now focuses exclusively on store brands and essentials: budget chicken packages, discount items, and whatever fills stomachs at the lowest price.

This shift has reshaped entire retail landscapes. Private label sales have skyrocketed—Kirkland and Great Value, the flagship brands of Costco and Walmart respectively, now dominate market share. Discounters like Aldi and Dollar General have captured significant grocery market share gains, while traditional unionized competitors like Kroger and Albertsons continue closing locations and laying off workers.

Poverty in Plain Sight

Juan Carlos Esquivel works as a meat clerk at a Santa Monica Vons location, a role he’s held for a decade. Despite recently winning a hard-fought wage increase, his real earnings have deteriorated as living costs outpaced the raise. His experience encapsulates the cruel irony facing his profession: “Last year, after medical leave, I needed SNAP to survive. The moment I returned to work, that help was taken away, even though my financial struggles had only worsened.”

More shocking than his individual case is the broader pattern at his store. Juan and three of his coworkers now depend on weekly food bank visits to feed their families—workers employed full-time in a grocery store requiring charity to survive. A 2022 study of Kroger employees revealed that over 75% faced food insecurity, a statistic that has likely worsened given subsequent inflation.

The food bank dependency illuminates a systemic failure: food banks provision less than one-ninth the amount of food that SNAP typically provides.

A Contradiction That Shouldn’t Exist

Deserai Bartlett arranges flowers at Ralphs in Studio City, crafting moments of beauty for customers while her own table remains bare. As the primary provider for two children, the irony of working surrounded by abundance while struggling for basic sustenance weighs heavily: “It’s really sad to work surrounded by plenty of food, all while wondering how to make sure your children have enough.”

The broader context makes this individual struggle feel even more urgent. Consumer Price Index data showed inflation at 3.7% in September, with recent reports indicating 3% grocery price inflation since 2024, driven primarily by beef, eggs, coffee, and chocolate. Over 90% of U.S. adults report stress about grocery prices. In Virginia alone, rising grocery costs have pushed 45% of families into debt.

Market research firm dunnhumby documented that 18-44 year-olds face an acute food and financial insecurity crisis with no sign of abating.

The Path Forward

These aren’t isolated hardship stories. They represent a systemic failure affecting millions. Grocery clerks and cashiers—essential workers who enable communities to access food—deserve compensation that allows them to feed their own families without charity or benefit uncertainty.

“Everyone who works a full-time job should be able to provide for their family without this fear,” Deserai stated simply. For grocery clerks serving on the front lines of the food affordability crisis, that remains an aspirational dream rather than an achievable reality.