FoodWIse Extension Clark, Marathon, Portage, and Wood Counties

FoodWIse team members Mallory and Michelle recently visited The Neighbors' Place to share recipes, offer food samples made with ingredients from The Market, and provide resources to help guests make the most of the foods available to them to stretch their food dollars.

These efforts are made possible through SNAP-Ed, a program that has long supported nutrition education and access across Wisconsin. While funding for this program has been eliminated, we’re especially proud to highlight the meaningful work happening in our communities.

🍓🥒🛍️It's Farmers Market Week!🛍️🫑🌽

FoodWIse Nutrition Educator Julia recently partnered with Healthfirst Network WIC to provide nutrition materials and resources at the Farmers Market of Wausau, helping families make the most of their market experience!

To support food access, FoodWIse also helped supply EBT signage to clearly show where FoodShare is accepted, and token pouches for vendors to stay organized for customers using benefits.

These small but meaningful tools help ensure that everyone feels welcome and confident shopping for fresh, local produce, and it is part of our commitment to making healthy food more accessible in our communities.

This work is supported by SNAP-Ed, a program that helps bring nutrition education and food access tools to families across Wisconsin.

FoodWIse Nutrition Educator Hannah Wendels Scott has been a key part of nutrition education efforts in Wood County, helping students and families build healthy habits through SNAP-Ed-funded programming.

Her work has included:
- Teaching students how to prepare and enjoy fresh vegetables like zucchini
- Creating welcoming, hands-on learning environments that encourage kids to try new foods
- Partnering with schools, farmers markets, and food pantries to make nutrition education accessible

These efforts are part of a broader initiative that reached thousands of Wisconsinites annually. Unfortunately, SNAP-Ed funding was eliminated in the recent federal budget, meaning programs like FoodWIse will end this fall.

We’re proud of Hannah’s work and the lasting impact she’s made in our community. Her approach is fun, approachable, and evidence-based, and she has helped countless students and families feel more confident about food and health.

Nutrition education program cut by Trump was creating ‘magic’ in Wisconsin SNAP-Ed, a federally funded nutrition education program that accompanied SNAP benefits, was eliminated in President Donald Trump’s budget law.

For over 30 years UW–Madison Division of Extension has provided local nutrition education throughout WI, funded by the federal SNAP-Ed grant program. FoodWIse educators have been a cornerstone of Extension’s mission to improve the health and well-being of Wisconsin residents. FoodWIse reaches over 133,000 people with nutrition education and community-based strategies to support healthy eating and active lifestyles by partnering with other organizations to engage children, families, and seniors.

The congressional budget reconciliation bill signed into law on July 4 eliminated all SNAP-Ed funding, which will result in a loss of services that have been vital to communities across Wisconsin. FoodWIse’s Nutrition Educators across the state have directly helped families with limited incomes make healthier choices for their future, and this impact will be felt in schools, food pantries, and community centers where our educators have helped families live healthier lives and stretch limited food dollars.

We’re incredibly proud of the work our educators and partners have done to support Wisconsin communities. While this news is difficult, we remain committed to promoting health and food access in every way we can.

To learn more, read the full article from Wisconsin Public Radio:
https://www.wpr.org/news/uw-extension-foodwise-nutrition-education-federal-funds-eliminated

UW Extension's FoodWIse nutrition education program shutting down after federal funds eliminated UW-Madison Extension is ending its 30-year-old FoodWIse nutrition education program and laying off more than 90 people after losing a federal grant.