The first two months of 2013 have been rocky ones for University of Maryland Extension (UME) educators who work to help low income Marylanders eat healthier.
On New Year’s Day, leaders of UME’s Food Supplement Nutrition Education (FSNE) program learned that their budget for the current fiscal year had been abruptly cut by nearly $900,000 as a result of last-minute fiscal cliff negotiations in Congress.
“No one saw it coming,” says Lisa Lachenmayr, Maryland’s FSNE Director. “It caught everyone off-guard.”
Across the board, Congress cut roughly $110 million – or 28 percent – from the nutrition education component of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as food stamps.
At the state level in Maryland, FSNE provides programs that help low-income individuals and families make healthier food choices, improve shopping skills, develop better food preparation skills, handle food safely and increase physical activity. FSNE also provides nutrition education training to other volunteers and professionals who serve low-income families in order to expand the program’s reach.
Since learning about the massive budget reduction, Lachenmayr and other UME leaders have been working on a plan to help FSNE adjust to the cuts while minimizing the impact on clients.
So far, FSNE leaders have not had to eliminate any current positions or projects but did have to abandon plans for growth into additional counties and new initiatives. The program had opened positions for new educators this year in Charles, Washington and Anne Arundel counties – areas that currently do not have designated nutrition educators – but now has eliminated those openings.
Plans to expand or further develop successful FSNE programs will also be hindered, says Lachenmayr. For example, the Market2Mealtime program – which aims to increase the purchase and consumption of locally grown, fresh produce among low-income families – had intended to hire additional educators over the summer to provide outreach at farmers’ markets across the state, but will no longer be able to do so. Additionally, budgets for materials and supplies, out-of-state travel and contractual services have been decreased drastically in all FSNE offices throughout Maryland.
“Unfortunately, these cuts in federal funding come at a time when demand for FSNE’s programs and services continues to climb,” says Daniel Kugler, Acting Associate Director of University of Maryland Extension (UME). According to the nonprofit group Maryland Hunger Solutions, SNAP (food stamp) participation has increased by 118 percent in the state over the last five years. In fiscal year 2012, FSNE made a total of 251,256 contacts throughout Maryland including:
- 226,842 low-income youth
- 20,879 low-income adults
- 3,535 teachers (through train-the-trainer programs)
Looking toward the future, it’s unclear whether FSNE’s former funding levels will be restored for fiscal year 2014 but program organizers can’t help but be concerned about the ongoing budget battles in Washington, D.C.
“We will simply continue to do the best we can and serve the most people possible with the resources we’re given,” says Lachenmayr.
To learn more about UME’s Food Supplement Nutrition Education program, visit www.eatsmart.umd.edu.
