Since 2012, Leah’s Pantry has strengthened the capacity of SNAP-Ed programs nationwide through training, curriculum support, and consulting in nearly all 50 states. On July 4, 2025, H.R. 1 was signed into law, eliminating funding for the SNAP-Ed program. This abrupt end to a nearly 30-year program threatens communities that rely on SNAP-Ed and disrupts a trusted network of local organizations, including schools, food pantries, grocery stores, churches, and Cooperative Extension offices, who deliver this work.
Even with the loss of SNAP-Ed funding, Leah’s Pantry remains committed to sustaining curricula, trainings, program resources, and implementer supports so that partners across sectors can continue advancing trauma-informed nutrition security. We will also continue to partner with national organizations such as ASNNA to advance nutrition education across the U.S., while supporting partners in California and beyond as they sunset SNAP-Ed in their states.
To preserve the resources and institutional knowledge built through SNAP-Ed, we are ensuring that the free repository of materials remains accessible indefinitely. Visit our homepage to learn more.
California
Leah’s Pantry collaborates with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to strengthen trauma-informed programming for California’s SNAP-Ed program, CalFresh Healthy Living. Our work includes curriculum and program development, training delivery, strategic alignment, and the development, testing, and evaluation of trauma-informed programs and policy, systems, and environment (PSE) interventions.
Since 2012, Leah’s Pantry has supported CalFresh Healthy Living with resources, training, and technical assistance. In 2022, we became the official Statewide Training Lead for CalFresh Healthy Living, tasked with providing training and technical support to the over 1,800 staff and hundreds of implementing agencies that support community health and nutrition security in all California counties. CalFresh Healthy Living partners can access resources, curriculum, and training opportunities on the Statewide Training Resource Site (contact us if you need assistance accessing this website). Additionally, we also host summits, peer exchanges, and tailored training sessions such as PSE 101, garden-focused PSE training, and trauma-informed capacity building, ensuring support for all experience levels.
In 2024, CDSS contracted Leah’s Pantry to develop a statewide CalFresh Healthy Living Community Impact Framework. Created in collaboration with a Local Advisory Committee and refined with input from state and local implementers, the framework introduces community-centered goals and strategies. It aims to build capacity, center community, and deliver programming for maximum community health impact.
Leah’s Pantry trains implementers, provides technical assistance, and cultivates peer learning networks through Direct Education on curricula such as Food Smarts and Around the Table. We support PSE interventions such as the Nutrition Pantry Program and Wiser Dining. Through our CalFresh Healthy Living partnership, our programs have expanded to meet diverse needs, including new curricula for older adults and dads.
Beyond these efforts, Leah’s Pantry manages EatFresh.org, an online recipe and nutrition resource for CalFresh-eligible individuals and families. This website is a great resource for anyone who wants to improve their health. We also produce the Stocking the Pantry podcast, accessible on all major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and YouTube. Additionally, we maintain the Nutrition Security Peer Learning Community, an online community for CalFresh Healthy Living and SNAP-Ed professionals to ask questions and share advice. Although these resources were designed with SNAP-Ed audiences in mind, they are available to all who seek to improve health and nutrition security.
Washington
Since 2015, Leah’s Pantry has partnered with Washington State’s SNAP-Ed program to train implementers to deliver Food Smarts. In 2021, the Washington State SNAP-Ed Curriculum, Training, and Website team (CTW) developed an Equity and Anti-Racism Strategic Plan. To support these efforts, CTW collaborated with Leah’s Pantry to create a Direct Education Equity Rubric for use by the state team and local implementers to assess the suitability of various curricula for different communities throughout the state. The rubric evaluates curricula on health and racial equity principles, universal design for learning (UDL), and trauma-informed education practices. Along with continued anti-racism and equity trainings, this tool helps SNAP-Ed implementers provide inclusive, community-responsive programming. This tool was also adopted by the CalFresh Healthy Living Curriculum Work Group in 2023.
New York
Leah’s Pantry began its partnership with SNAP-Ed New York in the summer of 2021 by conducting a Trauma-Informed Nutrition Security training for their staff. During the training, local and state implementers learned how a trauma-informed approach could be applied to SNAP-Ed work in New York.
That same summer, Leah’s Pantry was contracted to revise and combine two curricula used in SNAP-Ed New York: Just Say Yes to Fruits and Vegetables (JSY) and Stellar Farmers’ Markets. This project was in response to the emerging trends in the federal SNAP-Ed program toward racial equity, health equity, and trauma-informed care. Leah’s Pantry was selected for this project based on their leadership in developing an evidence base for trauma-informed SNAP-Ed direct education curricula.
In addition to revising the curriculum, SNAP-Ed New York also adopted Around the Table in 2022 and Food Smarts and Food Smarts Waste Reduction in 2023.
Indiana
Leah’s Pantry began its partnership with Indiana SNAP-Ed in the summer of 2021 by conducting by a Trauma-Informed Nutrition Security training for their staff. During the training, local and state implementers learned how to apply a trauma-informed approach to SNAP-Ed work in Indiana. Immediately following this training, staff working in pantry settings were trained to run the Nutrition Pantry Program in their local communities.
In the Fall of 2021, we held our first Learning Collaborative for the Indiana SNAP-Ed team. Although the focus and participants have changed, we have continued to run a Learning Collaborative every fall in partnership with the Indiana Department of Health.
Similarly, since the initial 2021 Trauma-Informed Nutrition Security training, we have provided a version of that training six times to various community-based groups in Indiana. Most recently, we customized the training for K-12 school food services, nurses, and health liaisons.
In 2023 and 2024, we conducted seven trainings to introduce medical professionals in Indiana to the topic of trauma-informed nutrition security. Participants included physicians, nurses, office staff, lactation consultants, and others working in medical settings. The trainings included a review of current research and specific strategies for applying a trauma-informed approach to patient interactions and clinic-based food programs.
SNAP-Ed Programs
Header Photo by Sharon Pittaway on Unsplash