CLAY CITY, Ind. — Besides federal employees working without pay, now some grocery stores are unable to accept a prominent form of government payment.
WTWO reported that Clay City's IGA has been turning away customers who want to pay with foods stamps for a little over a week now. But it's not a decision made by management.
Due to the government shut down, the IGA is unable to accept payment by EBT cards. For two weeks, federal workers have gone without pay.
And in Clay City, those who depend on food stamps have gone without groceries.
"It's going to affect it a lot. There is a lot of people around here that's on food stamps,” said Clay City resident Rachel Lynch.
The IGA, which has been accepting EBT and food stamps for years, is now unable to accept this prominent payment method.
"Our machines weren't taking any EBT cards and we didn't really know what was going on,” said grocery store employee Tristen Malone. “We didn't know if it was a technical issue. And then we found out it was due to the government shutting down."
Cashiers said the EBT cards will begin to process like usual, until they come up declined, causing IGA to turn away folks who depend on this particular grocery store.
"They're really upset about it, which is understandable,” Malone said. “I mean that's like, you know, really discouraging that they can't use it. And I mean we've had some people even get mad about it but it's like out of our control, there's nothing we can do about it."
Until the government is up and running again, folks in clay city will have to look for other sources for groceries.
"I'd say the food pantries are going to be booming as far as people going there for food,” Lynch said.
Malone wants to emphasize that her staff is just as upset with the issue as customers are.
And as soon as the shutdown is lifted, she hopes her store will be able to once again cater to the needs of her community.
