OPINION:
To many Americans, Congress is synonymous with partisan bickering, gridlock and an overall lack of results. However, when the House and Senate return from their August recess, they have a chance to make a big impact. The 2018 farm bill includes a change that could improve the lives of millions of vulnerable Americans through the SNAP and SNAP-Ed programs.
While many people are familiar with SNAP’s food assistance program, the educational component, SNAP-Ed, is just as important to the health and vitality of families across the country. The primary goal of SNAP-Ed is to improve the likelihood that SNAP-eligible persons will choose physically active lifestyles and make healthy food choices. The secondary goal is to keep government spending in check, because a healthier population means decreased long-term health care costs and a healthier workforce.
Many SNAP-Ed programs are managed by Cooperative Extension, a nation-wide educational and outreach network that translates research from land-grant universities into community-customized solutions in agriculture, community and youth development, and health and human sciences. Currently, we manage $180 million in SNAP-Ed programs across the U.S. with more than 3,000 staff members, more than 23,000 volunteers and upwards of 29,000 sites in the nation.
While many have the perception that SNAP is an ineffective program, Cooperative Extension SNAP-Ed programs boast a 74 percent success rate. In 2015 alone, 2.5 million Americans received SNAP-Ed benefits through Cooperative Extension programming that provided information and strategies on how to be more food secure, create and adjust food budgets and choose healthier options like fruits and vegetables.
Cooperative Extension, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has built a strong foundation of science-based impact on the nutritional choices of low-income audiences. We deliver highly effective nutrition education programs and gather evidence that demonstrates that efficacy.
For example, we know that 94 percent of the adults we engage improve their diet, including consuming additional fruits and vegetables. Additionally, 80 percent of youth increased their knowledge or ability to choose healthy foods. Clearly, our efforts achieve great results.
Most importantly, Cooperative Extension has the unique ability to ensure these programs - and American tax dollars - have a real, measurable impact. As a component of the land-grant system, Cooperative Extension has the existing resources and infrastructure to continually assess and improve SNAP-Ed through rigorous data-driven methodologies.
Cooperative Extension is a key mission of our nation’s 76 land-grant universities and serves all 3,067 counties, parishes and boroughs across the United States. More than 15,000 Extension employees develop and deliver science-based educational programs to a wide array of audiences in the areas of 4-H Youth Development, Family and Consumer Sciences, Agriculture and Natural Resources and Community Development. We employ well over 1,000 experts in food, nutrition and health, and we stand ready to take an even larger role in delivering a high impact and accountable nutrition education program for low-income people across the U.S.
Regardless of your political leanings, we can all agree that federal programs need to be streamlined and accountable. The best way to accomplish this is to ensure there is a mechanism in place to continuously and rigorously evaluate program inputs and outcomes, and adjust them accordingly, and Cooperative Extension has the experience and resources to do just that.
Congress has a chance to generate real results for millions of vulnerable Americans with the passage of this farm bill. Cooperative Extension is uniquely positioned to ensure this is the case through continuous, data-driven methodologies and assessments. It’s what we do best.
• Chuck Hibberd is the dean and director of University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cooperative Extension, and serves as the chair of ECOP, the national governing board for Cooperative Extension.
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