Photo courtesy of John Benedict Local Co-Op

John Benedict’s days look different since leaving his corporate finance career and moving to McNeal, a small community in Cochise County, Arizona. Instead of closing mortgages and performing audits, Benedict is growing food, managing a produce co-op and building a local food system that supports small-scale farmers and the families who buy from them. 

Benedict found himself in McNeal somewhat by happenstance. The finance industry wasn’t fulfilling and when he decided to give it up, he wasn’t exactly sure where he’d end up. He would just know it when he felt it. 

He worked odd jobs to earn enough money to buy a plot of land and eventually realized that working the land, and finding ways for it to provide for others, was what he had been searching for. Farming in the area can be particularly difficult. Rain is delivered in intense bursts through the monsoon season, but for most of the year the region is hot, arid and dry. Many of Benedict’s fellow farmers are restricted to just two acres of irrigation. 

By working together, the co-op Benedict started grows enough to give back to Cochise County in all sorts of ways. They supply produce to the Cochise County mobile market. They participate in an active farm-to-school program. And they’ve built a food is medicine program through partnerships with two hospitals in the area. About 60 patients living with diabetes are filling produce prescriptions through The Local Co-Op, the official name of the grocery Benedict launched. 

All of these resources were only a vision just a few years ago. 

Photo courtesy of John Benedict Local Co-Op

“It’s become a community integrated system,” Benedict said of the progress he’s made over the past few years. “I’m a crazy person. I don’t stop.”

Before Benedict opened The Local Co-Op, most of the farmers in the community were selling their produce to high-end restaurants in other communities. When he went into farming, Benedict was focused on finding ways to build a business that made healthy food available to the people who needed it most. SNAP, Double Up Food Bucks and The Local Co-Op made it possible to feed hungry families and keep more dollars in the community while supporting other local farmers, too. 

“It’s the best win-win out there,” he said. “You’re doubling purchasing power, which then allows farmers to service lower income communities without having to take a financial loss.”

SNAP, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, offers federal funds to individuals who need support buying food. Double Up Food Bucks multiplies those available funds by two. And the co-op brings fresh, local food closer to those living in the McNeal area.

Benedict identified two primary barriers rural communities face in accessing healthy food: price and proximity. The availability of SNAP funds, combined with the mobile market, co-op and Food is Medicine partnerships, helped address both.

Changes to SNAP at the federal level, though, are threatening to disrupt the system Benedict and his fellow farmers are building. And the changes are not only impacting individuals who receive SNAP funds. They’re impacting farmers, too.

“Farmers are fighting for their lives right now,” Benedict said. “One is leaving producing mushrooms to be an HVAC tech. It wouldn’t cut the mustard. Another took a job at a school. I think most of them are just trying to keep their heads above water and they’re just trying to survive.”

Photo courtesy of John Benedict Local Co-Op

Since Congress passed a signature tax and spending bill championed by the Trump administration in July 2025, SNAP participation nationwide has fallen by roughly 5 million people.

Federal funding cuts, coupled with an administrative change that shifts more costs to states to administer the SNAP program, are creating an economic ripple effect in Benedict’s community. As a result, families have less to spend at local stores, and farmers have fewer customers. 

Benedict’s brick-and-mortar co-op is the only grocery store in the county that accepts Double Up Food Bucks, making it an important access point for SNAP participants looking to stretch their food dollars further.

Arizona has seen a more than 50% drop in eligible SNAP enrollees, which is the largest drop in the country. That equates to more than 457,000 Arizonans, including 196,000 children, who have lost their nutrition benefits. With fewer benefits available, the market of potential buyers for locally-grown produce is diminished, impacting revenue for local farmers. And the overall health of the community has the potential to decline.

It’s becoming more difficult for families to put food on the table. And the changes are restricting the economic impact the co-op was designed to offer.

“SNAP is an awesome tool for economic development in rural areas,” said Benedict. “Any money we think we’re saving now, we’re going to end up paying 10-fold in healthcare costs in the future. They’re pretty much forced now to shop at the Dollar General again, purchasing hyper-processed foods. It’s been devastating to a lot of the community.”

Photo courtesy of John Benedict Local Co-Op

For Benedict, the biggest loss was SNAP-Ed, a grant-funded program that taught participants how to access and prepare healthy food while stretching their SNAP dollars further. Funding cuts have already ended the program in some areas, while others are winding down.

“Without SNAP-Ed working in these communities, most people didn’t understand they could go to the co-op or how to cook the food they were able to buy,” Benedict said. 

Despite the challenges, Benedict is optimistic about the future. The momentum that the co-op has experienced is something he expects to continue. He is taking a long view, with an understanding that policies in the future may look different than they do now. And, he doesn’t take a salary for running the co-op. He makes money farming. 

“Things will get better. Things will pick up. My job is to look and jump on opportunities and weather storms,” he said. “We’re going to weather this storm. We have to get crafty and figure these things out.”

One way is by becoming the only market in the state to accept Medicare Advantage as payment for produce prescriptions, allowing seniors with chronic conditions to hold onto their access to healthy food even if their SNAP benefits lapse. It also offers an additional revenue stream for the farmers supporting the co-op. 

Ultimately, despite obstacles, Benedict is determined to continue serving his community in every way he knows how. 

“It gives my life purpose. We’re an essential part of the community,” Benedict said. “I love this place and I love these people. I would be willing to bet the co-op is half the jobs in McNeal. It’s what keeps people fed, keeps farmers on the farm, it’s amazing. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I love it.”