Local opinion: Eliminating community nutrition programs harms AZ6 communities

Last week, Representative Juan Ciscomani joined his GOP colleagues in voting for the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act — a bill that cuts deep into food and health programs that Arizona families rely on. Alongside massive cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, the bill eliminates two critical community nutrition programs, SNAP-Ed and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP).

Both programs cost a modest $600 million nationwide — a fraction of a percent of SNAP’s total budget — but their impact is immense. They are cornerstones of community health.

SNAP-Ed teaches people who use SNAP how to eat well on a tight budget. It also helps make healthy choices easier in schools, childcare centers, and communities by training teachers and collaborating with local organizations and businesses.

EFNEP uses a peer-to-peer model to support families with young children, especially in underserved communities. It helps people learn to cook, stretch their food dollars, and live healthier lives.

I’ve spent nearly 25 years working with SNAP-Ed in Maryland, Oregon, and Arizona — designing programs, writing curricula, and identifying emerging needs and best practices. I can say with confidence: it’s one of the most cost-effective community investments in the entire federal budget.

In Arizona, these programs are run by University of Arizona Extension. Their staff work in every county in the district — Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, and Pinal — providing outstanding hands-on education in schools, community gardens, food pantries, farmers markets, and more. They manage hundreds of long-standing, deeply valued partnerships with community organizations to expand their reach, impact, and sustainability. And they work to support healthier communities through environmental changes.

Here’s some of what’s at stake:

In Pima County, the Garden Kitchen runs the Mobile Plaza Market, which brings local produce to isolated neighborhoods and supports local refugee and Indigenous farmers. This initiative — including partners like International Rescue Committee’s Tucson’s New Roots, Mission Garden, and Iskashitaa Refugee Network — helps people eat healthier food and stretch their SNAP dollars further with Double Up Food Bucks.

In Cochise County, staff helped rural school districts create School Health Advisory Councils and develop farm-to-school programs. They also collaborated with The Local Co-Op in McNeal to fund and operate the Cochise Mobile Market, which brings local produce to rural hubs, accepts SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks, and includes nutrition education.

In Graham County, EFNEP helps community college and school-aged students learn to cook and eat healthy on a budget. SNAP-Ed works with early childhood teachers to improve children’s environments through gardens, outdoor play, healthy recipes, and screentime reduction. They also collaborate with pantries and other organizations to lead improvements to community health.

In Pinal County, staff support programs for all ages, from preschoolers to seniors, and maintain vital partnerships with 25 local organizations to multiply their impact. They also created Pinal Health & Active, an app that connects residents to parks, trails, markets, recipes, and wellness classes.

These programs are transformative to our communities. Their staff are the best among us. They are deeply embedded in the communities they serve —hard-working, trusted, respected, and effective. They create vibrant, dignified, secure, and healthy spaces for our low-income neighbors. They invest years building relationships and creating healthier, more resilient communities.

Eliminating SNAP-Ed and EFNEP will cut over 100 skilled, dedicated staff across Arizona. Thousands will lose access to valued local resources that help them feed their families, stretch their food dollars, and live healthier lives.

But the damage won’t stop there. These programs support local farmers, grocers, pantries, schools, childcare centers, and small rural economies. Defunding them would not only harm vulnerable families, but it would unravel the networks that make Arizona communities strong. It would further destabilize community organizations and halt progress on community-wide initiatives that improve health for all.

Though I write today as a private citizen in AZ6, I speak from experience: as a public health nutrition professor with 25 years working to reduce hunger, I am deeply alarmed. When paired with cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and other safety net resources, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act is a blueprint for hardship —especially for children, families, and rural communities.