University-run nutrition education programs are closing around the country following Trump administration funding cuts. That means low-income families are losing access to information about healthy eating and cooking.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education, known as SNAP-Ed, was cut in a sweeping domestic policy package that President Donald Trump signed into law in July. It’s a program that has existed since 1992 and was designed for food stamp recipients. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has spent more than $9 billion on the program since its inception, Reuters reported.

Karla Shelnutt, an associate dean and a professor of family, youth and community sciences at the University of Florida, spoke to Lucy Marques, one of our reporters at our partner The Tampa Bay Times, for a story about the impact of the loss of SNAP-Ed dollars.

SNAP-Ed programming is all about getting “little hands in the dirt, and helping them to feel the dirt and learn where it comes from, and then grow the food and taste the food,” Shelnutt told Lucy.

The University of Florida’s extension service runs one of two SNAP-ed programs in the state. It will shut down this month as a result of the funding cut. More than 70 program employees across 31 counties will be laid off, Lucy reported.

Why does that matter? Lucy put it plainly: “This closure means families across Florida will lose access to information about healthy eating habits and how to prepare fresh foods. School districts could be left without outside expertise and students will miss workshops about where their food comes from.”

SNAP-Ed programs are ending across the country. Here are a few other examples:

• The University of Minnesota Extension laid off 60 SNAP-Ed educators in July, according to its student newspaper the Minnesota Daily.

• The University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension began winding down its nutrition-education operations over the summer, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. (Congressional Republicans representing Wisconsin told the newspaper they view SNAP-Ed as a waste of money.)

• Indy Hunger Network is scrambling to fill the 40% of its budget that comes from SNAP-Ed, WTHR reported last month.

“When you teach people how to eat healthier, the students do better in school, the parents do better at work, that feeds the economy,” Mark Lynch, director of advocacy, told the TV station. “Everybody lives longer and stays out of the doctor’s offices or the ERs.”

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Elsewhere on Open Campus

From Nebraska: Just 13% of Nebraska’s 3,000-person Kimball County have a four-year degree. College doesn’t always make sense for its young people. Most colleges are hundreds of miles away, for one thing. And some of the jobs in town — like working at the waste incinerator — don’t require a degree.

Kimball County High doesn't push a "college-for-everyone mentality," Danielle Reader, its principal, said. “We don’t want students to go to college just to say they’re in college without a plan. I always tell them you’re allowed to change your mind. And what we try and do here is prepare them so that they don’t close any doors before they know they want the door to be open.”

We worked on this story in partnership with Flatwater Free Press.

From Texas: The public university systems across Texas are rushing to review course materials and syllabi in an attempt to stave off controversy, following the firestorm over a secret recording of a gender identity lecture at Texas A&M. Jessica Priest at our partner the Texas Tribune asked system leaders what steps they’re taking and what will be done next.

++ Texas Tech’s limits on gender identity discussion deepen fears of politics breaching academic freedom (via our partner the Texas Tribune)

++ Also in Texas, a bit of good news: El Paso Community College received several million in TRIO funds late last month, despite a broader funding freeze across the country, Danny Perez at our partner El Paso Matters reports.

From Ohio: Amy Morona at our partner Signal Ohio found that two of the state’s research universities — Case Western Reserve University and the University of Cincinnati — are no longer publicly touting international enrollment numbers, a shift from past years.

James Murphy, director of post-secondary policy at the national advocacy group Education Reform Now, said it “certainly seems likely” that the change may be because the universities want to avoid scrutiny in the current political climate.  

“It is hard for me not to imagine legal counsel advising the administration, and then the admissions office or the enrollment management office, to be cautious about calling attention to international enrollment,” he said.  

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