SNAP-Ed no longer exists as a federal program. Congress eliminated its mandatory funding in Section 10107 of Public Law 119-21, signed July 4, 2025, which ended the Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Grant Program after the fiscal year 2025 grant. States were allowed to spend leftover FY2025 money through September 30, 2026, and that deadline has now passed. Free nutrition education and cooking classes still exist in most communities, but they now run through EFNEP, WIC, Cooperative Extension, food banks, and local health departments instead. Your SNAP food benefits themselves were not touched by this change and continue normally.
What SNAP-Ed was and what it funded
SNAP-Ed was the education arm of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. USDA sent formula grants to state agencies, which passed the money to land-grant universities, food banks, YMCAs, health departments, and community nonprofits. Those organizations ran the free classes many SNAP households came to expect.
| SNAP-Ed at its peak (FY2025) | Detail |
|---|
| Annual mandatory funding | $536 million |
| People reached | More than 1.2 million per year |
| States and territories covered | All 50 states, DC, and territories |
| Typical services | Community cooking classes, grocery store tours, school nutrition lessons, farmers market promotion, policy and environmental change work |
| Who could attend | SNAP recipients and other low-income residents, free of charge |
| Delivered by | State agencies through universities, food banks, and nonprofits |
The classes were open to anyone who looked income-eligible for SNAP, and nobody had to prove enrollment to sit in a class. That open-door design is part of why the loss is being felt by people who never received SNAP at all.
The timeline: exactly when SNAP-Ed ended
| Date | What happened |
|---|
| July 4, 2025 | P.L. 119-21 signed. Section 10107 ends SNAP-Ed mandatory funding for FY2026 and later years |
| September 30, 2025 | Last day of the final federal SNAP-Ed grant year (FY2025) |
| FY2026 (Oct 2025 to Sep 2026) | States permitted to spend unexpended FY2025 funds, with a plan filed with USDA |
| September 30, 2026 | Final deadline for states to expend all remaining SNAP-Ed funds |
| October 1, 2026 forward | No federal SNAP-Ed funding exists. Programming continues only where a state, university, or private funder pays for it |
The Congressional Budget Office scored the repeal as saving about $5.5 billion over ten years. Because the carryover year ran out differently in each state, the shutdown was staggered. Some states wound down in late 2025. Others, including Massachusetts and Georgia, kept something running most of the way to the September 2026 cutoff using leftover dollars or other funding sources.
What replaced SNAP-Ed: free nutrition education that still exists
Nothing single-handedly replaced SNAP-Ed. What remains is a smaller patchwork of programs that were already running alongside it.
| Program | Who it serves | What you get | Cost | How to find it |
|---|
| EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program) | Low-income families with children, and youth; income generally at or below 185% of the poverty guidelines or receiving food assistance | Multi-session hands-on nutrition and cooking series, food budgeting, food safety | Free | Your state's land-grant university Cooperative Extension office |
| WIC nutrition education | Pregnant and postpartum women, infants, children under 5 in WIC | One-on-one counseling, breastfeeding support, group classes, online lessons | Free with WIC | Your local WIC clinic |
| Cooperative Extension (general) | Open to the public in most counties | Food preservation, healthy cooking, food safety, gardening, some free and some low-cost | Varies | County Extension office |
| Food bank and pantry classes | Pantry clients and neighbors | Cooking demos, recipe kits, nutrition coaching, often tied to a food distribution | Free | Your regional food bank |
| GusNIP nutrition incentives (Double Up Food Bucks and similar) | SNAP shoppers | Dollar-for-dollar match on fruits and vegetables, up to a local daily cap | Free to use | Participating farmers markets and grocers |
| Produce prescription programs | Patients referred by a clinic, often with a diet-related condition | Produce vouchers plus nutrition counseling | Free with referral | Ask your clinic or community health center |
| Medicaid and Medicare nutrition services | Depends on plan and diagnosis | Medical nutrition therapy and diabetes self-management training, when covered | Copay may apply | Your plan or primary care provider |
| MyPlate and USDA online materials | Anyone | Recipes, meal plans, shopping guides, budget tools | Free | MyPlate.gov |
Many former SNAP-Ed partners also kept their teaching materials online after the money stopped. Michigan State University Extension, which ran Michigan's statewide SNAP-Ed work, published its curricula, lesson plans, and recipes so the public could keep using them. Colorado's human services department maintains a running list of remaining nutrition resources on its former SNAP-Ed page. Checking the old SNAP-Ed page for your state is a reasonable first step, because several of them were converted into referral directories instead of being deleted.
EFNEP is the closest thing to a direct substitute
EFNEP is the older of the two federal nutrition education programs, created in 1969, and it survived the 2025 cuts because it is funded separately through USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture rather than through the SNAP statute. FY2025 funding was about $69.4 million, roughly an eighth of what SNAP-Ed received, so it cannot absorb the whole caseload. It still operates in every state and territory through the Cooperative Extension system.
EFNEP classes are free, run as a series rather than a one-off, and usually include hands-on cooking. Adults enroll through a local Extension educator. Youth programming is often delivered in schools where at least half the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
EFNEP income guidelines, 185% of the 2026 poverty guidelines
Most states screen adults at or below 185% of the federal poverty guidelines, or accept proof that you receive or could receive federal food assistance. These are the 185% figures built from the 2026 HHS poverty guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and DC. Alaska and Hawaii use higher tables.
| Household size | Annual income at 185% | Monthly |
|---|
| 1 | $29,526 | $2,461 |
| 2 | $40,034 | $3,337 |
| 3 | $50,542 | $4,212 |
| 4 | $61,050 | $5,088 |
| 5 | $71,558 | $5,964 |
| 6 | $82,066 | $6,839 |
| 7 | $92,574 | $7,715 |
| 8 | $103,082 | $8,590 |
Each state sets its own intake paperwork, and some accept self-declared income. If you receive SNAP, WIC, TANF, Medicaid, or free school meals, you are almost certainly within the EFNEP range.
How to find free nutrition or cooking classes now
- Search for your state's Cooperative Extension office. Use the pattern "[your state] cooperative extension EFNEP" or "[your county] extension nutrition education." Extension is organized by county, and the county office is where class schedules live.
- Call 2-1-1. The United Way referral line keeps local listings of cooking classes, food pantries, and nutrition programs. It is free and available in most of the country.
- Ask your regional food bank. Feeding America member food banks often picked up nutrition programming after SNAP-Ed ended, funded by donations or state grants. Ask specifically whether they run cooking demos or recipe classes, not just food distribution.
- Ask at your WIC clinic if you are eligible for WIC. WIC nutrition education is a required part of the program, not an add-on, and it was not affected by the SNAP-Ed repeal.
- Check the old SNAP-Ed page for your state. Several states turned theirs into a referral list of surviving programs.
- Ask your clinic about a produce prescription. If you have diabetes, high blood pressure, or another diet-related condition, your provider may be able to refer you to a GusNIP produce prescription project that pairs free produce with counseling.
- Look for Double Up Food Bucks at your farmers market. This is not a class, but it stretches your SNAP dollars on fruits and vegetables, usually dollar for dollar up to a daily cap.
Your SNAP benefits were not cut by the SNAP-Ed repeal
The repeal removed the education grant, not food assistance. SNAP allotments for fiscal year 2027, which runs October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, are these maximums for the 48 contiguous states and DC.
| Household size | Maximum monthly SNAP benefit (FY2027) |
|---|
| 1 | $306 |
| 2 | $562 |
| 3 | $808 |
| 4 | $1,023 |
| 5 | $1,217 |
| 6 | $1,463 |
| 7 | $1,616 |
| 8 | $1,841 |
| Each additional person | +$225 |
The minimum benefit for a one or two person household is $25. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands have their own higher tables.
Income tests for FY2027 use the 2026 poverty guidelines: gross income at or below 130% and net income at or below 100%. For one person that is about $1,729 a month gross and $1,330 net. For a household of four it is about $3,575 gross and $2,750 net. Most states operate broad-based categorical eligibility, which raises the gross limit and drops the net test for households under it.
Two other 2025 law changes do affect SNAP itself and are worth knowing about separately from the education cut. Since July 4, 2025, adults 18 to 64 with no child under 14 in the household can usually receive SNAP for only 3 months in 3 years unless they work or train 20 hours a week, receive unemployment benefits, or meet another exemption. Pregnant women remain exempt. Also since that date, SNAP eligibility is limited to citizens and nationals, green card holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants, and citizens of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau. Many green card holders must wait 5 years first, with exceptions for children under 18, 40 quarters of work history, blindness or disability, and a military connection. In a mixed-status family, the members who qualify can still receive SNAP.
Internet costs also no longer count toward the shelter or utility deduction.
Why this matters beyond the classes
Researchers who studied SNAP-Ed found it returned more than it cost, with one widely cited estimate putting the savings at $10.64 in Medicaid spending per dollar spent on community health education. The program had also become infrastructure in a quieter way. SNAP-Ed educators were often the people who staffed farmers market tables, helped pantries build client-choice shelves, and taught food safety in subsidized housing community rooms. When the grants ended, those staff positions ended with them, including layoffs reported in Colorado, Michigan, and New York.
For a household, the practical consequence is that free nutrition help is now harder to find and varies much more by county than it did in 2024. It has not disappeared. It just stopped having a single national name.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SNAP-Ed still accepting participants in 2026?
No. Federal SNAP-Ed funding ended with the fiscal year 2025 grant, and states had to spend any remaining carryover by September 30, 2026. Programs that still operate under a SNAP-Ed name are running on state money, university money, or private grants, not federal SNAP-Ed funds. Check with the organization directly.
Did losing SNAP-Ed reduce my monthly food benefit?
No. SNAP-Ed was a separate grant to states for education. Your monthly benefit is calculated from household size, income, and deductions, and the FY2027 maximum for a household of four is $1,023 a month.
What is the difference between SNAP-Ed and EFNEP?
SNAP-Ed was funded through the Food and Nutrition Act and administered by state SNAP agencies, with a $536 million budget, and it has ended. EFNEP is funded through USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, administered by land-grant universities, and it continues at about $69 million a year. EFNEP serves a narrower group, mainly low-income families with children and youth, and uses longer multi-session series.
Where can I get free cooking classes if I receive SNAP?
Start with your county Cooperative Extension office and ask about EFNEP, then call 2-1-1, then ask your regional food bank. If you are pregnant or have a child under 5, WIC includes nutrition education at no cost. Community health centers and public libraries also host cooking programs in many areas.
Do I need to be on SNAP to attend EFNEP classes?
No. EFNEP accepts adults whose household income is at or below roughly 185% of the federal poverty guidelines, or who receive or could receive federal food assistance. For a household of four that is about $61,050 a year under the 2026 guidelines. You do not need to be enrolled in SNAP.
Can SNAP-Ed come back?
Restoring it would take an act of Congress, because the 2025 law struck the mandatory funding rather than reducing an appropriation. Members of Congress have pushed to protect and fund EFNEP, and some states have put their own money into nutrition education, but as of October 2026 there is no federal SNAP-Ed program to restore funding to.
Are the old SNAP-Ed recipes and materials still available?
In many cases yes. Several state implementing partners, including Michigan State University Extension, deliberately kept their curricula, lesson plans, and recipe collections online after the funding stopped. USDA's MyPlate site also hosts free recipes, budget-friendly meal plans, and shopping tools.
Does the end of SNAP-Ed affect Double Up Food Bucks?
No. Produce incentive programs like Double Up Food Bucks are funded through the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program, a separate competitive grant program, often matched with state dollars. Those programs continue to operate at participating farmers markets and grocery stores, though availability varies by state and season.
