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Dunn County Extension highlights 4‑H work and warns SNAP‑Ed/FoodWIse funding could be cut by June 30
Summary
Extension staff and 4‑H participants presented youth and community programming to the board; staff warned that proposed federal budget changes could end SNAP‑Ed (FoodWIse) programming statewide by June 30 and that roughly 135 SNAP/FoodWIse educators and coordinators statewide could be affected.
Dunn County Extension staff delivered a program report to the Board of Supervisors and presented youth participants from 4‑H to illustrate the countywide reach of Extension programming. Extension staff also warned the board that recent federal budget proposals could eliminate SNAP‑Ed (the FoodWIse program) by June 30, which would end nutrition education services delivered through the University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension network.
“FoodWIse is one of our programs…part of the SNAP program; they’re federally funded through the SNAP funding,” Kristen Breuder, area director for Extension, told the board. She said House and Senate budget actions already considered in Washington had put SNAP‑Ed funding at risk and that, as a result, “we are pretty certain at this point that…that program will be eliminated. There still is a chance that there there will be a reversal. We were disheartened, last week at that vote.”
Breuder told supervisors that the proposed cuts in committee language would effectively end SNAP‑Ed funding on June 30 and reduce overall SNAP funding by roughly 70–80 percent over the next 10 years under the proposed changes. She said the state’s FoodWIse network includes about 135 educators and coordinators across Wisconsin and that elimination of the federal education funding would remove nutrition education for vulnerable populations served by the program.
Extension also presented a short video and two 4‑H youth, who described civic, leadership and community‑service activities such as fair exhibits, cemetery cleanups, camp trips and projects for nursing homes and the humane society. The board heard that Extension operates on a co‑funded model: county investment is matched by state and federal funds, and local investments are used to leverage additional resources and programming.
Supervisors asked whether the county could get more local data about FoodWIse impacts; Breuder said she could share impact reports and offer a future board presentation by the FoodWIse coordinator.
No formal action was taken; the presentation was informational, and Extension staff left outcome materials for supervisors who requested them.
