{"id":150653,"date":"2025-08-16T14:01:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T14:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/150653\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T14:01:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T14:01:12","slug":"30-year-old-snap-ed-program-in-chicago-is-being-dismantled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/150653\/","title":{"rendered":"30-year-old SNAP-Ed program in Chicago is being dismantled"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a makeshift classroom in a Roseland low-income housing complex, nine women watched nutrition educator Denetria Adams saute a glistening mix of carrots, celery and onion.<\/p>\n

Tammy Spivey, 60, raised her hand from the back row. \u201cWhat\u2019s worse, cooking oil or lard?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLard,\u201d Adams answered, stirring the steaming mirepoix with practiced ease. \u201cIt clogs your arteries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across the room, fellow educator Christine Davis jumped in. \u201cWe always want to make sure we\u2019re being cognizant of the type of fat that we\u2019re putting into our bodies.\u201d She rattled off a list of healthier alternatives.<\/p>\n

Sunflower oil, olive oil, avocado oil. Spivey jotted down the names on her note sheet, then underlined each word twice.<\/p>\n

It was the sixth session of a cooking class run by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education initiative, or Snap-Ed. For weeks, Mercy Housing residents gathered to cover nutrition basics, build kitchen skills and learn how to stretch their food stamps.<\/p>\n

It might also be one of the last.<\/p>\n

In July, the federal program was abruptly cut under President Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act, leaving thousands across Illinois in the lurch. For decades, SNAP-Ed has partnered with dozens of Chicago organizations \u2014 from food pantries to public schools \u2014 to address the root causes of health disparities. Now, with just a few months\u2019 notice, staff are dismantling a 30-year program carefully woven into the city\u2019s social safety net.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an absolute gut punch,\u201d said Daylan Dufelmeier, who heads SNAP-Ed locally as the director of the Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion at the University of Illinois Chicago. \u201cThe work that we do is so important and so critical, so when we got caught in political crossheads, it was brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the latest in a flurry of welfare cuts under the Trump administration. The president\u2019s recent tax-and-spending legislation has slashed billions in federal food benefits<\/a> and significantly reduced Medicaid access.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"TammyTammy Spivey, a resident at the Mercy Commons housing development in Chicago, participates in a cooking demonstration and discussion about nutrition on Aug. 12, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Spivey, a former quality control technician, has relied on food stamps and disability checks for as long as she can remember. When she used to cook for her now-grown daughter, both were essential to keep food on the table. She couldn\u2019t always afford to prioritize nutrition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey cutting out the wrong things,\u201d Spivey said. \u201cIt\u2019s not right.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to nutrition education classes, SNAP-Ed programming includes food access directories, social media campaigns and advocacy work. According to staff, those initiatives prevent more than 5,000 cases of obesity and nearly 600 cases of food insecurity across Illinois each year.<\/p>\n

For many low-income families, budgeting for healthy food options can be a challenge, experts say. That can lead to long-term health issues, including chronic diseases and nutritional deficiencies. But nonprofit research organization Altarum estimates that every dollar invested in the Illinois program returns between $5.36 and $9.54 in health care savings.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to be healthier, they want to be physically active, but they don\u2019t have the resources,\u201d said educator Adams, as she spooned out heaps of rice.<\/p>\n

Despite its documented success, the Republican-led House Committee on Agriculture said in May that the program has yielded \u201cno meaningful change\u201d<\/a> since its inception in 1992, wasting taxpayer money. Funding will officially run dry Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year.<\/p>\n

This fiscal year, Illinois received nearly $20 million in funding for the program. About $5 million went to UIC, and the rest was funneled to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for statewide work. With the funding slashed, roughly 250 staff members will lose their jobs across the U. of I. system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are people that are their communities building trust,\u201d said Germ\u00e1n Bollero, dean of the U. of I. College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. \u201cThat is at the core of our mission: transforming society to be a better place. It\u2019s heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChristineChristine Davis, a nutrition assistant, talks to residents at Mercy Commons housing development about healthy eating on Aug. 12, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Each year, SNAP-Ed is estimated to reach about one million Illinois residents, working with more than 1,800 community partners. About 1.9 million people in the state receive SNAP benefits, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services.<\/p>\n

At Mercy Housing, Alma Watson, 63, flipped through the pages of her workbook, filled with lines of her cursive handwriting. She scanned a list of recipes \u2014 turkey tacos, skillet chicken breasts and baked sweet potatoes \u2014 each paired with nutritional information.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t know, and some people really need it. Like me, for one,\u201d Watson said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s her second time taking the eight-week course at Mercy, where she\u2019s lived for 15 years. Participants receive boxes of fresh produce and poultry to re-create recipes at home, enough to last Watson for days. But the real joy is being in the classroom again, she said, learning alongside peers. Most of them also depend on SNAP benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love this setting. The people are really nice,\u201d Watson said. \u201cI just love everything so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CherylCheryl Johnson and other residents at Mercy Commons housing development eat a meal of chicken and vegetables prepared in a cooking demonstration on Aug. 12, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

For SNAP-Ed staff, that positive feedback makes the impending shutdown harder. Educators Adams and Davis are set to lose their jobs in a few weeks, but their greatest concern, they said, is for the communities they serve.<\/p>\n

Through the window, Davis pointed to a weathered convenience store across the street. Its neon posters advertised tobacco and soda. \u201cMost of the (nearby) grocery stores aren\u2019t really grocery stores. They\u2019re markets like that,\u201d she said. \u201c(Residents) don\u2019t have much of an option.\u201d<\/p>\n

Food deserts<\/a> \u2014 areas more than a mile from a grocery store \u2014 have plagued the Chicago area for years, particularly on the South Side. While SNAP benefits are an immediate solution, SNAP-Ed helped chip away at those broader systemic issues, Dufelmeier said.<\/p>\n

After funding runs out, operations will likely cease immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impacts from the cuts to our programs you may not see next week, but it\u2019s a long-term impact,\u201d Dufelmeier said.<\/p>\n

After the lesson, each participant received a paper plate with sauteed vegetables, chicken, rice and soy sauce. The room had buzzed with laughter, but it was quieter as everyone ate.<\/p>\n

One resident ambled to the front of the room for seconds.<\/p>\n

Adams smiled and dished out another helping. \u201cHere you go, honey.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a makeshift classroom in a Roseland low-income housing complex, nine women watched nutrition educator Denetria Adams saute…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[87980,960,5404,77440,50014,17073,407,5386,1818,2862,77441,31887,35531,2765,4010,1370,721,24563,50,87982,80,56957,87984,17075,88496],"class_list":{"0":"post-150653","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-champaign-county","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-cook-county","11":"tag-decatur-county","12":"tag-dekalb-county","13":"tag-dupage-county","14":"tag-education","15":"tag-il","16":"tag-illinois","17":"tag-indiana","18":"tag-jo-daviess-county","19":"tag-kane-county","20":"tag-kendall-county","21":"tag-keywee","22":"tag-lake-county","23":"tag-latest-headlines","24":"tag-marion-county","25":"tag-mchenry-county","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-peoria-county","28":"tag-politics","29":"tag-porter-county","30":"tag-sangamon-county","31":"tag-will-county","32":"tag-winnebago-county"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115038813215025747","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}