A University of Hawaiʻi program that works with about 15,000 people a year is at risk after federal funding cuts.
The SNAP-ed program is managed by UH Mānoa's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience and the state Department of Health. It teaches residents how to plan meals, stretch their dollar, compare prices, and even grow their own vegetables.
Staff are at public schools, farmers markets, and senior facilities.
The SNAP-ed programs in Hawaiʻi have a combined budget of more than $1.5 million this year, but funding has been cut from the federal budget going through Congress.
"If SNAP-ed is eliminated, it's going to be a big problem for so many of our families — and they are going to struggle to buy enough food to feed their families, and they will also end up making unhealthy choices. On the top of that, we have 13 staff members that work across the state, with so many schools and nonprofits who will lose their jobs," said CTAHR's Dean Parwinder Grewal.
In a news release, UH says the program will end on Sept. 30 if Congress doesn't restore its funding.
