By SANDRA SMITH
As of Oct. 1, Maryland’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education, or SNAP-Ed, has been defunded following President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
SNAP-Ed provides SNAP participants, low-income individuals who receive food assistance benefits, and low-income families with nutrition education classes and partners with programs such as food pantries and farmers’ markets.
With the program’s closure, 70 SNAP-Ed employees across Maryland will lose their jobs, and 700 community partners – including Judy Centers and Head Start Centers – will be directly affected by this loss, with initiatives cut back or canceled.
In fiscal year 2025, the final year of implementation for this statewide program, Maryland SNAP-Ed reached over 640,000 residents, according to the University of Maryland Extension Program. Over 55,000 individuals participated in education programs – a number that has been increasing since the program began, according to impact reports created by UMD Extension.
In 2024, SNAP-Ed partnered with 541 youth education sites to promote healthy choices among children and families. Another 133 farmers and food pantries used this program to connect local food resources with families in need.
In Frederick County, fresh food and childhood education take a hit
In Frederick County, the loss of SNAP-Ed funding has particularly affected Judy Centers – early-learning hubs serving children from birth to age five in Title I school zones.
According to Leslie Frei, the supervisor of early childhood education and Judy Centers at Frederick County Public Schools, many families already qualify for free and reduced meals. In some schools, as many as 85% of students qualified.
Through SNAP-Ed, each of the six Judy Centers in Frederick County received weekly fresh food deliveries. Representatives offered cooking demonstrations, nutrition lessons and provided families with small appliances like Crock-Pots to encourage healthy cooking at home.
The program’s reach extended to pre-kindergarten classrooms across the county – providing monthly deliveries of fruits and vegetables to more than 1,500 three and four year olds, regardless of family income.
“Children are much more likely to try different foods if they’re doing it in a social setting with their peers,” Frei said. “We’ve heard a lot of feedback over the years that children are now trying these healthy foods at home…we know that the impact, from a broad level, is that young children may not be as inclined to try these healthier and more nutritious foods, while at the same time their families are losing access to them.”
SNAP-Ed filled the gap for Maryland’s ALICE families
The end of SNAP-Ed leaves a gap not only for families receiving SNAP benefits, but also for ALICE families, or Asset Limited, Income Constrained and Employed families. These are households that earn above the federal poverty line but are unable to afford basic necessities like housing, childcare and food.
In Frederick County, many ALICE families hover just above SNAP eligibility requirements. While they don’t receive benefits, SNAP-Ed programs often serve as a bridge – offering free classes, food drops and nutrition resources to help stretch limited budgets.
“[In Frederick County] we have a lot of poverty, but then we do have a good amount of families just one problem away from being housing or food insecure, which is a huge deal for us as a county,” Frei said.
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