Jodi’s Journal: A profound take on statewide hunger

It has been a month since I read the words, and the image is still cemented in my mind.

In South Dakota, SNAP benefits allowing income-qualified people to purchase food are loaded onto EBT cards on the 10th day of every month.

As the day literally arrives at 12 a.m., seven of RF Buche’s grocery stores remain open.

“If you stand inside at midnight, you’ll see a parent pushing two carts: one for groceries and one with a sleeping child wrapped in a blanket,” Buche wrote in an op-ed published in late October.

“Hunger. Exhaustion. Relief. For many, it’s the first real food in days. This isn’t hypothetical. It happens every month in South Dakota.”

Buche, a fourth-generation grocer whose businesses include Buche Foods, wrote about the monthly experience to try to paint a picture for lawmakers of how acutely the government shutdown affected some of the nation’s poorest people. The stores that are open as benefits arrive serve residents in Gregory, Mission, Oacoma, Pine Ridge, Lower Brule, Wanblee and Wagner.

“Families are anxious, wondering if and when they’ll be able to put food on the table. Children should not feel the stress of parents deciding whether to skip meals,” he wrote.

“And even if benefits land this month, the scheduled cuts coming in 2026 keep me up at night. I know who will pay the price: parents working multiple jobs, children whose school lunches may be their only full meal, elders choosing between food and medicine, and veterans who served their country but now struggle just to eat.”

I checked in with Buche late last week as benefits were flowing again, but I suspected the scene inside his stores hadn’t changed.

Imagine people so in need of food they come with their children in the middle of the night to a grocery store.

“You’ll see the same scenario in every one of our stores, and that’s the way it is,” he said. “It is sad to see kids come in with bedhead and PJs and put a blanket on top of them while they get groceries because they haven’t eaten.”

In Sioux Falls, most of these families could have gone to The Banquet for a meal. They could have attended one of multiple food distribution events. They could call 211 if they still needed help or even post online, as I see people do, asking fellow community members if they have food to spare.

For rural communities, especially reservations, those kind of resources “are almost nonexistent,” Buche said. “I toured the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House the other day, and all I could think of is, ‘Oh my God, we could use about 10 of these just on the Pine Ridge reservation.’”

The geography presents a significant barrier not just to accessing food but also to managing a limited budget, he added.

Photos via Team Buche Cares

“You’ve got some out there that are 40-plus miles to the nearest grocery store, and no transportation,” Buche said. “They have to spend $20 or $40 for a ride to the store, which is $20 or $40 they could spend on soap or shampoo or diapers.”

And when they get there, the prices are eye-opening. If you think your grocery bill has gone up, Buche’s stores begin with a buying disadvantage. The same 18-ounce box of Cheerios that Walmart can sell for less than $5 costs Buche almost $7 even buying at the same volume, and that’s before he can take any margin on them.

At one point, “Walmart’s lettuce was $1.88, and we were buying it for $4.15,” he said. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

He took his concerns to a willing advocate at the Federal Trade Commission, but that person no longer is in the role.

In the meantime, Buche is working on his next philanthropic endeavor — one of a growing number he has instituted through his nonprofit, Team Buche Cares. He purchased the Sioux Falls Eat Well Mobile Market operation this fall and is preparing to bring it and another truck to tribal communities.

In places like Wounded Knee, for example, “they’ve got a nice little convenience store there, and it’s probably got some eggs, but it’s mostly mac-and-cheese, and there’s not a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables or meat,” Buche said. “I’d like to take the food right to the people.”

You might say it’s beyond the call of duty for someone who doesn’t have to be regularly crisscrossing the state advocating for and serving his customers.

At the same time, talk about a balancing act — knowing you have to maintain your margins somehow or you won’t be in business at all. RF Buche’s broader GF Buche Co. is a diverse business, owning and operating not just grocery and convenience stores but auto parts and hardware/lumber stores along with fast-food restaurants in a dozen South Dakota communities.

“I’ve got 500 families counting on me to make the right decision for their families and put food on their family’s table, but one of our core values is supporting our local communities, and that’s just what we have to do,” Buche told me. “If I can’t be there for our local communities, I don’t want to be in business.”

Sometimes, I think the vast geography of South Dakota creates pockets of isolation within communities. We see food insecurity in Sioux Falls but likely don’t understand the profound nature of hunger in communities not all that far away. And while that’s not to overlook the need for generosity locally, as I consider my year-end giving, I know I’ll be looking outside this community as well. Likewise, if you’re part of an organization that’s called to serve, I bet Team Buche Cares could point you toward an area of enormous need in our state.

In the meantime, two generous donors have offered to match up to $125,000 to provide Christmas meals to households in some of South Dakota’s poorest communities. For $5, you can gift a meal of a turkey, ham, pork or prime rib, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, a vegetable, dinner roll and dessert, thanks to partnerships with Prairie Farms Dairy, Farmers Union Industries and the South Dakota Farmers Union, along with no administrative fees.

“And then we can take them and get them right out to the people that need it the most,” Buche said.

You can donate here.

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