Southern Maryland SNAP-Ed Nutrition Program To End Oct. 1 Under Federal Budget Cuts

SOUTHERN MARYLAND — Southern Maryland’s nutrition education network will take a major hit on Oct. 1, when the federally funded SNAP-Ed (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–Education) ends under the federal budget reconciliation law known as the Big Beautiful Bill. The move will eliminate programming in Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s counties that has helped families learn to shop for healthy food on a budget, start gardens and cook nutritious meals.

Supporters of the cuts said the change was needed to rein in spending and refocus the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In a May 14, 2025, report titled “Restoring Accountability & Prioritizing Work,” the House Committee on Agriculture described SNAP-Ed as “ineffective and duplicative”. It said the program “yielded no meaningful change in the nutrition or obesity of SNAP participants, eliminating $536 million in annual spending wasted at the expense of the taxpayer.”

Administered by the University of Maryland Extension, SNAP-Ed has received roughly $6.3 million in annual federal funding to serve more than 424,000 Marylanders through partner sites, including schools, Head Start centers, Judy Centers, food pantries and farmers markets. In Southern Maryland, those partnerships include the La Plata Farmers Market, Southern Maryland Food Bank, Charles County Children’s Aid Society, Calvert County Head Start programs and community sites in Lexington Park.

Christine, St. Mary’s County SNAP-Ed Project Leader and Nutrition Educator, pushed back on the report. “It references a seven-year-old review that indicates USDA needed to improve data collection, reporting outcomes, and coordination of its nutrition programs to prevent ‘potential duplication.’ In the three years I have been here, we have had robust data and reporting systems that demonstrate our effectiveness for our specific audience. I wish they would take another look.”

H.R. 1’s Impact on Maryland Families

According to the July 2 fact sheet, 700 formal SNAP-Ed partner sites will be affected by the Oct. 1 shutdown. The program’s closure will also eliminate 70 staff positions statewide, with officials warning the change will undermine public health outcomes and end decades of prevention-based education efforts.

“H.R. 1 will slash SNAP benefits, deepen food insecurity and hunger, and place a total $412.5 million burden on Maryland taxpayers in benefit and administrative costs to maintain the same level of service,” the Maryland Department of Human Services fact sheet states. “When combined with the impact to the more than 1.5 million Marylanders served through Medicaid, these provisions threaten to unravel the safety net for Marylanders.”

Local Reactions

The BayNet reached out to those leading SNAP-Ed in Southern Maryland to hear their reactions to the defunding and shutdown.

Kara, a Calvert County SNAP-Ed Project Leader and Nutrition Educator, called the decision “a loss for our collaborators and the communities that we support.”

“SNAP-Ed has made a significant impact on individual lives as well as the community,” Kara said. “There will be large gaps in nutrition education, farmers market benefit acceptance promotion, garden education and a voice and representation at public health discussions representing low-income residents. … It’s honestly heartbreaking. I know that SNAP-Ed employees are a passionate and creative group of professionals. I’m heartbroken we cannot do this work anymore, and I’m heartbroken for the impact that will have on our communities.”

Kara also shared classroom feedback from Calvert pre-K teachers, who reported that students became more willing to try vegetables, parents began buying healthier foods and more children brought water instead of juice. Teachers noted they themselves added vegetables to their diets, changed how they spoke about food and used gardens as tools for science and math lessons.

Christine, the St. Mary’s County SNAP-Ed Project Leader, echoed those concerns.

“As teachers are returning for this school year, we are brainstorming ways they can continue the program in their classrooms despite the lack of support due to the elimination of SNAP-Ed,” she said. “Teachers provided feedback at the end of last school year which was overwhelmingly positive and demonstrates the impacts of the program.”

Christine cited teachers who started gardening clubs, saw students growing vegetables at home and noticed students choosing healthier snacks in class. One cafeteria staff member recalled children saying, “I’m going to eat a rainbow today” after SNAP-Ed lessons, adding, “It made eating healthy foods fun for them. I think this has been a very valuable program for our students.”

What the Community Will Lose

Educators said the loss comes at a time of rising food costs, when families need help stretching their budgets while still increasing their intake of fruits and vegetables. They warned this could worsen food insecurity and chronic disease rates.

SNAP-Ed staff often served on local wellness and food security committees, connecting schools, health departments and farmers. That work, Kara noted, is “hard to replace or replicate such a niche resource.”

Without SNAP-Ed, schools and Head Start programs will lose evidence-based nutrition lessons, materials and support for gardens. Food pantries will lose training, recipes and cooking demonstrations. Farmers and markets will lose help with SNAP EBT promotion and marketing support.

Impact in Southern Maryland

The end of SNAP-Ed will be felt most directly in classrooms, where teachers say the program has changed the way children experience food. In Calvert County pre-K programs, educators reported that lessons encouraged healthier choices and reshaped daily routines.

“I’ve become more mindful in selecting healthy foods to use as examples during lessons,” one Calvert County pre-K teacher said.

“We changed the way we approach our meals in the classroom. Now we encourage children to smell or lick new foods if they don’t want a bite right away, or to explore how the food feels,” another teacher explained.

With SNAP-Ed gone, teachers said they will be asked to take on additional duties to keep nutrition education alive. They raised questions about how to maintain tastings, garden lessons and food-based activities without the dedicated support of SNAP-Ed educators.

In St. Mary’s County, educators said the lessons not only introduced new foods but also encouraged healthier habits.

“SNAP-Ed has made my students more open to trying different foods. They love being more health conscious as well. For snacks in the classroom they are more likely to choose healthier alternatives,” a St. Mary’s school teacher said.

“They had an opportunity to try some foods that they might not otherwise try,” added a staff member who helped in the cafeteria. “I can tell you that they thought about those lessons while picking lunch, stating things like ‘I’m going to eat a rainbow today’ or ‘Look at the seeds I found in the strawberries.’ It made eating healthy foods fun for them. I think this has been a very valuable program for our students.”

Can the Gap Be Filled?

While educators agreed SNAP-Ed cannot be replicated without state-level resources, local entities are taking small steps. Calvert County, for example, has committed to funding classroom tastings for pre-K students. Still, teachers said the impact is not the same without “Ms. Kara” leading the lessons.

In St. Mary’s, teachers are considering ways to incorporate nutrition and tastings into their classrooms, while volunteers or businesses may support gardens. University of Maryland Extension staff such as Dr. Deon Littles, family and consumer sciences health and wellness educator, and Dr. Troy Anderson, financial educator, will remain resources for general wellness and financial education, but cannot fully replace SNAP-Ed’s school-focused model.

SNAP-Ed Teacher Toolkit Still Available

Teachers and schools will still be able to access SNAP-Ed resources online through the SNAP-Ed Teacher Toolkit and the program’s Eat Smart recipe collection. These resources provide classroom-ready materials to promote healthy eating in the classroom and cafeteria, create school gardens, incorporate physical activity into the school day, support staff wellness, share nutrition lessons with families and offer practical recipes that make healthy meals easier at home.

SNAP-Ed educators confirmed that both the toolkit and recipe resources will remain available even after the program ends.

Teacher Toolkit: mdteachertoolkit.org
Recipes: extension.umd.edu/programs/family-consumer-sciences/snap-ed/eat-smart/recipes

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