{"id":217251,"date":"2025-06-09T07:00:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T17:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=217251"},"modified":"2025-06-10T15:00:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T01:00:27","slug":"on-the-federal-chopping-block-uh-program-serving-ohana-keiki-kupuna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/09\/on-the-federal-chopping-block-uh-program-serving-ohana-keiki-kupuna\/","title":{"rendered":"On the federal chopping block: UH<\/abbr> program serving \u02bbohana, keiki, kupuna"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Left:
SNAP-Ed visits schools across Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> to help keiki learn how to grow vegetables for their ʻohana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A vital part of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u02bbs safety net for financially struggling families and k\u016bpuna is threatened by federal budget cuts, potentially leading to many more people going hungry and eroding the health of communities.<\/p>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa\u2019s SNAP-Ed program, run by the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience<\/a> (CTAHR<\/abbr>), is one of the federally funded initiatives on the chopping block in the U.S. Congress.<\/p>\n

For years, SNAP-Ed has played a key role in teaching ʻohana how to prepare healthy, budget-friendly meals, helping to fight hunger and support community well-being across the state.<\/p>\n

\"Bags
Every bag of seeds from SNAP-Ed comes with instructions on how to nurture them<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Our college has been working with local families and k\u016bpuna (elders) through SNAP-Ed for more than 20 years,” said Jean Butel, SNAP-Ed program director at CTAHR<\/abbr>. “Our SNAP-Ed program has become a trusted community partner that helps about 15,000 community members across Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> every year. We meet people where they are: public schools, farmer\u2019s markets, senior care facilities and other community gathering places.”<\/p>\n

Funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP-Ed teaches eligible ʻohana how to plan meals, stretch their food dollars, compare prices, and even grow their own vegetables.<\/p>\n

Program success<\/h2>\n

Data highlights the program’s effectiveness with CTAHR<\/abbr>\u2019s direct education classes:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • 91% of participants improved their diet.<\/li>\n
  • 83% learned to budget, compare prices and plan meals.<\/li>\n
  • 40% reported they could afford more food or had enough for the family.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    CTAHR<\/abbr> and the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> State Department of Health manage SNAP-Ed programs with a combined $1.57-million budget for this year. However, SNAP-Ed has been eliminated from the federal budget being debated by Congress, putting the future of the program at risk in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and nationally.<\/p>\n

    “We are grateful that Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s Congressional delegation fully supports SNAP-Ed. With our geographic isolation, high cost of living, and ongoing food insecurity, full funding is essential for Congress to continue supporting Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s SNAP-Ed families and k\u016bpuna,” said CTAHR<\/abbr> Dean Parwinder Grewal.<\/p>\n

    If Congress does not restore funding, the program will end on September 30. Supporters say that cutting SNAP-Ed programming could hurt ʻohana already struggling with food insecurity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A longtime nutrition education program at CTAHR<\/abbr> helping local families fight hunger could lose federal funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":217284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[212,1674,951,1698,1314,73,9],"class_list":["post-217251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-executive-orders","tag-food","tag-grant-termination","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t