A program in Maryland that helps low-income students and families lead healthy lives through increased food access, nutrition education and physical activity has turned to local governments for funding after federal cuts have jeopardized its future.

The program, Maryland Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education, is run by the University of Maryland Extension. SNAP-Ed partners with 700 organizations across the state, ranging from schools and early education centers to food pantries and farmers markets, to connect Marylanders with healthy foods and other resources.

Since SNAP-Ed is a federally funded program, officials are preparing to shutter it after Sept. 30 due to federal funding cuts outlined in the reconciliation budget that passed in early July.

In fiscal year 2024, Maryland SNAP-Ed received about $6.3 million in federal funds.

In a letter sent to Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly and Harford County Council members on Tuesday, University of Maryland Extension officials said SNAP-Ed partnered with seven elementary schools in the county, connecting with over 1,400 students and 3,980 parents, and a total of 424,000 Marylanders in 2024.

“We cannot move backwards,” said U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney, a Democrat from Maryland’s 6th District. “Losing practical and fiscally responsible programs like this one would be a catastrophic betrayal, for both working Marylanders and families nationwide.”

SNAP-Ed’s director, Lisa Lachenmayr, said the program operates in schools where 50% of the student population qualifies for free and reduced-price meals. She said that without SNAP-Ed, students and families will feel the impact long term.

“We really strive to build healthier communities, and so we worked a ton on helping to create better wellness policies and bring farmers markets and food pantries to schools,” Lachenmayr said. “The long-term effect of not having food access or not having nutrition education has a compounding effect on a community.”

The University of Maryland Extension’s senior agent of agriculture and food systems, Andrew Kness, said in the Tuesday letter that, given the state’s fiscal problems, there is “very little likelihood” that Maryland would fund the 69 positions outlined in SNAP-Ed’s operating budget.

He explained that the statewide program could fracture into a county-by-county program, but in order to do so, it would require support and county funding.

According to Lachenmayr, counties across the state are evaluating a multitude of options to continue funding for SNAP-Ed by evaluating paths like working with food councils and committees, creating line items through boards of education, and adding the expense to the annual county budget.

“Since it has been such a short time since the decision was made to cut the funding, there [have] been a number of quick ways people are trying to fund SNAP-Ed and the county budget seems to be one of the fastest ways since counties have a yearly budget cycle,” Lachenmayr said.

Lachenmayr emphasized that counties could fund the programming and turn it into a function of the county government, leaving the future of SNAP-Ed through the University of Maryland Extension unknown.

To prepare for the full elimination of the programming, SNAP-Ed officials are moving their resources onto the University of Maryland Extension’s website and are training educators across the state on how to deliver food and nutrition curriculum.

“We are super-committed to providing training so that a lot of the training is occurring for teachers next school year, so teachers are set up for success since we will not be there,” Lachenmayr said.

She noted that she has not been made aware of any county that has fully committed to funding SNAP-Ed programming.

Harford County Councilman Jacob Bennett said in a social media post that he has been in contact with Kness and plans to bring up the possibility for Harford County to fund the program the next time he meets with Cassilly.

“As the federal and state governments continue to tighten their belt financially, we are going to feel the squeeze locally,” Bennett, a kindergarten teacher, wrote. “How we respond to that squeeze will say a lot about what we value as a community.”

Cassilly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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