Wyoming’s Cent$ible Nutrition Program Gets the Axe After 30 Years of Helping Families Eat Better

Wyoming’s long-running Cent$ible Nutrition Program — the one that’s helped thousands of families stretch their grocery dollars, eat healthier, and boost food security — is about to disappear, Gillette News Record reports.

Thanks to a line buried in the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, funding for the SNAP-Ed program — the backbone of Cent$ible Nutrition — will be cut off on September 30. And when that happens, so does the program.

“For over 30 years, we’ve been proud to serve Wyoming’s communities,” said Mindy Meuli, the program’s director, in a farewell-style statement. “The relationships we’ve built made a real impact.”

That’s not just talk — last year alone, Cent$ible Nutrition reached over 14,000 people through food pantries, taught more than 3,000 students (from early education to high school), and helped donate over 37,000 pounds of local food to hunger relief efforts. Participants reported saving around $53 a month on groceries, with 95% improving their diets and 92% learning better food budgeting skills.

In short, it worked.

The Cent$ible Nutrition Program is funded through SNAP-Ed and EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program) grants, both of which support nutrition education for people who rely on food assistance.

SNAP-Ed is now being axed. And without it, the program can’t sustain itself at its current scale. The University of Wyoming will shut down the broader Cent$ible Nutrition Program this fall, keeping only a skeleton version going through EFNEP, which will focus on basic nutrition classes.

Translation: goodbye to community outreach, school programs, and partnerships with pantries and senior centers in all 23 counties and the Wind River Reservation.

 “This isn’t just a local loss — it’s a hole in the public health system,” the program said in a release.

And they’re not exaggerating.

For decades, Cent$ible Nutrition has filled the gap between emergency food aid and long-term food security. It taught low-income families how to cook healthy meals, shop smarter, and stretch every dollar — something especially vital in places where grocery costs are sky-high.

In Big Horn County, Extension Educator Gretchen Gasvoda has seen that impact firsthand.

“It’s a huge loss,” she said. “This is where I started my Extension career — teaching low-income families and working in schools. It’s been around for 20-some years in our county.”

The state is scrambling to figure out what comes next. According to Gasvoda, Wyoming will likely shift to just five regional educators supported through EFNEP. That means far less coverage and far fewer community partnerships.

The Department of Family Services, which oversees the program funding, is exploring how to stretch remaining SNAP-Ed dollars under federal guidance. But there’s no real replacement lined up.

“We’re looking toward the future and hoping we can keep doing some of this good work,” said Meuli. “It’s been an honor to work alongside so many organizations trying to build a more food- and nutrition-secure Wyoming.”