This article was submitted by Jacquelyn Blackwell, retired educator and co-coordinator of End Hunger Durham, whose motto is “Food is a human right.” Provides food for people in need, promotes local food-based organizations, advocates for the hungry, and provides lists and helpful information about food resources. Click here to visit the End Hunger Durham website.

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Fourth-grade students in a Durham Public Schools (DPS) classroom sit eagerly in their seats. They are excited because they are about to have a guest presenter. A registered dietitian/nutritionist with the Durham County Public Health DINE (Durham’s Innovative Nutrition Education) team will be teaching them how to make sesame noodle salad. Throughout the year, these students have been learning about the nutrients in food, balanced meals, and the importance of limiting sugar-sweetened beverages. Their favorite part of class is always the food. “Many students are learning how to prepare healthy snacks for themselves and their families. The program also encourages language and reading development,” states a DPS teacher. The DINE curriculum aligns with North Carolina’s Course of Study and incorporates math, reading, writing, science, and health and provides a series of lessons for each grade (pre-K through the 8th grade).

 

Across town, another DINE nutritionist is planting a garden at a Head Start preschool that also partners with the DINE program. Tiny hands excitedly dig in the dirt as she explains what they are planting. Today it’s sugar snap peas. The children water, harvest, and theneat the produce that is grown in their garden, one of the best ways to encourage young children to eat fruits and vegetables.

 

Last year, DINE served 21 DPS elementary schools, 5 middle schools, 19 preschools, and 19 community sites, reaching 10,536 Durham residents with nutrition education. DINE also supported 42 community partners, helping them to transform their environments to become more supportive of healthy eating and physically active. DINE was instrumental in DPS launching free school meals for all this year, which allows Durham Public School students to get free breakfast and lunch. They also partnered with seven Triangle area farmers’ markets to support the Double Bucks program, which provided $277,370 to local farmers and put nutritious local food on the plates of Triangle residents.

 

Thirteen members of the DINE team are at risk of losing their jobs in October. DINE is primarily funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s SNAP-Ed Program. SNAP-Ed is a component of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. SNAP-Ed is evidence-based and helps people with low incomes learn to stretch their SNAP benefits, cook healthy budget-friendly meals, and to lead physically active lifestyles. SNAP-Ed was eliminated in the U.S. House of Representatives reconciliation budget that passed on May 22. If this budget is passed by the Senate, the program will end when the new federal fiscal year begins on October 1. The cut was a shock to the DINE team, because in years past the award-winning program had overwhelming bipartisan support.

 

“Since 1999, the DINE team has helped families learn how to eat nutritious meals while receiving SNAP benefits. Currently 36,000 Durham residents receive SNAP, which provides only about $5 a day. Without the nutrition education and the environmental changes DINE facilitates, many people will find it harder to access and choose nutritious meals,” explains Raina Goldstein Bunnag, Durham’s Food Security Coordinator.

 

The DINE program is also partially supported by funding from Durham County. This means that nutrition education could continue but its reach and impact would be greatly diminished by the loss of SNAP-Ed funding. The team is working to secure alternative funding, but with USDA funding likely ending in September, time is running out.

 

Click here to learn more about DINE. To learn more about SNAP-Ed and how to take action to support SNAP-Ed programs like DINE, click here.  And to learn more about SNAP and threats to this important food security program, click here.