SNAP-Ed Faces Funding Cuts, Local Instructor Plans New Path

SNAP-Ed, the federally funded program that for decades has provided nutrition education and obesity prevention to low-income families, will end on October 1, 2025. Its elimination wipes out initiatives across the country, a devastating loss to the nation’s public health infrastructure.

In Maryland, the impact is immediate and severe. The University of Maryland Extension will lose nearly $6.3 million in federal funding, cutting off services to some 424,000 residents at 700 partner sites from Head Start programs to food pantries and farmers markets. At least 70 educators and staff will lose their jobs, and with them, programs that brought fresh produce into classrooms, encouraged children to “eat a rainbow,” and offered families practical tools for healthier living. For many communities already stretched thin, the absence of SNAP-Ed represents not just a budget cut, but the loss of one of the few steady supports for healthier lives

Against this backdrop of vanishing resources, local educator Eric Fitch has seen firsthand what SNAP-Ed means to children and families in Kent County. In our conversation, he shares how the program has shaped classrooms, encouraged healthier choices, and why its loss will be felt so deeply here at home.

For years, Kent County children have looked forward to Eric’s visits to their classrooms. Known for showing up in fruit-themed shirts — “When you come in dressed like a watermelon, you’re not intimidating anymore,” he laughs,  Fitch has built trust by making nutrition more engaging than reading a set of instructions.  “My approach was a little different,” he explained. “I like to approach it for the fun first, get them to trust me, like me, and then I’m going to teach you.”

Eric is a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) instructor, part of a federally funded program that teaches children and families about healthy eating, exercise, and mental well-being. “Basically, what we are doing is trying to teach those who may not have the education through home or through school how to live a healthy life,” he said. Lessons have ranged from brain breaks to after-school cooking competitions, where kids learned to make salsa and smoothies.

But this work is coming to an end. When the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill” was signed into law, future SNAP-Ed funding was eliminated. Fitch explained, “They couldn’t take away the money that has already been given out, but they could say no more will be given out. So we all have to end at the same time.”

The program’s impact has gone beyond classrooms. Eric has worked with farmers markets to expand SNAP benefits and partnered with local food pantries to create recipe tastings from donated staples. “We’d see what they had a lot of, maybe fish and rice, and then we’d cook it up. If people liked it, we’d give them the recipe and the ingredients to take home.”

The need, he says, is undeniable. “From when I was a personal trainer, I lost touch with how much need was present in the county. This job opened my eyes, and now I can’t leave it. I just can’t do it without trying.”

To continue the mission, Fitch is creating a new program: MANGO — Mentoring Agricultural Nutrition and Garden Outreach. Unlike SNAP-Ed, which was housed under the University of Maryland Extension, MANGO will operate under an umbrella nonprofit to deliver school and community-based nutrition education. “Youth is my number one priority,” he said. “They have a lot of years left. The more years of habits, the harder it is to change.”

Fitch also offered a plea: “We need volunteers in Kent County. Every time I go to a food pantry, volunteers are getting older and older. We need more young people to step up.”

To be in touch with Eric, his email is physicallyfitch@gmail.com

This video is approximately nine minutes in length.