Illinois Extension’s SNAP education program ending, impacting food security for 1 million

URBANA, Ill. — In late July, the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign announced it will end a successful Illinois Extension-led program impacting food security and health for 1 million residents annually, affecting nearly 2,000 statewide partnerships, and cutting over 200 jobs — more than one-quarter of Illinois Extension’s workforce.

The move is in response to the elimination of federal funding for a program called SNAP-Education, which provides nutrition education for people eligible for SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps and branded as Link in Illinois).

Illinois Extension has led one of the largest SNAP-Ed programs in the country — under the brand Eat. Move. Save — for over 30 years.

In this capacity, Extension acts as a hub to map agrifood systems in communities across the state, identify gaps, and develop programs, action plans, partnerships, nutrition education, and interventions based on system elements that drive food insecurity in each community.

Illinois SNAP-Ed networks include schools, food pantries, charitable organizations, grocery stores, farmers, storage and processing facilities, transportation networks, public health departments, state and county agencies, and more.

Together with Eat. Move. Save. staff, these networks help Illinoisans in all corners of the state access and prepare healthy food, stretch food dollars, and incorporate movement into their lives.

These programs are effective. Each year, Eat. Move. Save. prevents more than 5,000 cases of obesity and nearly 600 cases of food insecurity among Illinois residents. More than half of program participants report making positive changes after taking part in Eat. Move. Save. activities.

“With 360,000 Illinois residents now at risk of losing SNAP benefits under the new legislation, they’re not just losing the support they rely on to afford food, they’re also losing tools that helped them use that food wisely and stretch it further to feed their families,” said College of ACES Dean Germán Bollero. “SNAP-Ed should be elevated, not eliminated. With a proven track record of improving health and economic outcomes, it represents a model for what effective public service — a key element of our land-grant mission — can look like.”

Among its many tools to support food access, Eat. Move. Save. developed and maintains Find Food IL, an interactive statewide directory that helps users locate grocery stores, food pantries, and meal sites that provide free food or accept SNAP/LINK and WIC benefits.

The program also oversees Hunters Feeding Illinois, a unique initiative that enables hunters to share surplus venison with families in need by covering processing costs and coordinating distribution through local food pantries.

Illinois SNAP-Ed staff also played a central role in launching IL-EATS, a statewide initiative that connected local food producers with hunger relief organizations.

Through this program, fresh fruits and vegetables, grains, dairy products, and proteins were distributed at no cost to Illinois residents via food pantries, mobile markets, and food box delivery.

IL-EATS is also set to end in the coming year, cutting short an innovative effort that benefited both growers and Illinois families.

With its SNAP-Ed funding eliminated, Illinois Extension will lose 217 highly trained staff who, for decades, delivered Eat. Move. Save programming and facilitated impactful community partnerships.

“These are professionals who live in the communities they serve, building trust, offering education, and creating real change. We deeply regret that, with the elimination of SNAP-Ed funding, their positions will be lost,” said Jennifer McCaffrey, Illinois Extension’s assistant dean and program leader for Family and Consumer Sciences.

Nonprofit research organization Altarum estimated that every dollar spent on Illinois SNAP-Ed returns between $5.36 and $9.54 in health care savings and long-term benefits, amounting to $135 million in return on an annual investment of $18 million.

“Eat. Move. Save. is a rare program that simultaneously improves health, reduces health care costs, and strengthens communities,” said Dr. Amy Christison, associate professor with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria and an Obesity Medicine Pediatrician at OSF Healthcare. “Extension’s expertise, locally based, locally responsive staff, and effective ‘systems’ approach is a best-in-class example of the land-grant mission leveraging transformative impact on a statewide scale.”

Extension and College of ACES leadership are currently determining how and when the program will officially cease Eat. Move. Save. operations.