Academy Statement on Senate Reconciliation Bill

July 1, 2025 – Wylecia Wiggs Harris, PhD, CAE, Chief Executive Officer of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, issued the following statement in response to today’s passage of the reconciliation bill by the U.S. Senate.

"The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is deeply disappointed by the U.S. Senate’s passage of the reconciliation bill, which eliminates funding for the Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Grant Program (also known as SNAP-Ed) after 2025 and includes changes to Medicaid and SNAP that threaten access to school meals through direct certification.

SNAP-Ed is a cost-effective, evidence-based program that partners with over 29,000 organizations, including 56 Land Grant Universities, to offer nutrition education at 314,000 sites nationwide. In 2022 alone, 1.8 million individuals participated in SNAP-Ed sessions. The program’s measurable success includes 40% of participants increasing fruit and vegetable intake and reducing sugary drinks, and 35% becoming more physically active.

Eliminating funding authority for this program ignores decades of proven outcomes demonstrating its effectiveness in improving health, reducing long-term healthcare costs and promoting economic stability.

The bill's changes to Medicaid and SNAP will also hinder states' ability to automatically certify eligible children for free school meals, putting millions of children at risk of losing access to nutritious food at school. This change will result in more paperwork, more missed meals and more children going hungry.

The Academy urges lawmakers to reconsider these decisions and work toward bipartisan solutions that protect and strengthen America's essential nutrition and food security programs."

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Representing more than 112,000 credentialed nutrition and dietetics practitioners, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The Academy is committed to improving health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy. Visit the Academy at www.eatright.org.