CLEVELAND — At his family’s corner store on Cleveland’s East Side, George Dixon is already seeing the fallout from disruptions to the food-stamp program.

Customers are anxious. As the federal government shutdown drags on, they don’t know when their November benefits will arrive – and how much money they’ll get. They’re buying cheaper items, like ramen noodles, and being more hesitant about meat and eggs.

“People are just … trying to figure out how they’re gonna feed their kids – and get to the next day,” said Dixon, a third-generation business owner in the Hough neighborhood.

He and his family are budgeting, too. More than half the shoppers at Dixon’s Market depend on food stamps, or SNAP, to help pay for groceries. And that federal money, in turn, covers daily expenses, from purchasing

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