Chris Strand

REGIONAL — We’ve all heard the old saying: “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”
That was the idea behind the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program, signed into law in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush. For years, critics of the food stamp program had complained that its recipients wasted too much of their assistance on junk food and overly processed convenience items, contributing to obesity and related health problems.
In response, the federal government turned to educators to work directly with food stamp beneficiaries to teach them how to eat healthier and stretch their food dollars further by doing so.
It’s been an effort to break one aspect of the cycle of poverty by giving beneficiaries information that can help them make better food choices than they may have learned growing up in a low-income household.
Here in northern St. Louis County, that work has been the job of Christopher Strand for just over a decade, although the food stamp program is now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and Strand is a health and wellness coordinator for what is called the SNAP-Ed program.
But Strand’s job is soon coming to an end, another casualty of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which zeroed out funding for the SNAP-Ed program along with major cuts to the SNAP program itself. Two other SNAP-Ed teachers in St. Louis County are also facing layoffs next month when the current funding for the program runs out. The state was scheduled to receive $9.7 million in federal funds to support the program next year, but that funding was zeroed out in the federal budget bill signed into law on July 4.
Strand, who recently spoke to the Timberjay, said he’s already received his layoff notice from the University of Minnesota Extension Service, which oversees the program in most of the state. Tribal governments in Minnesota oversee their own SNAP-Ed programs.
A wide-ranging occupation
Strand’s job has been highly varied and can take him from group homes to classrooms to grocery stores, as he works to connect his “students” with a healthier and more affordable diet.
Often, his work connects him with adults experiencing setbacks in life and are in subsidized housing or group homes while they recover from addiction, mental illness, or other life challenges, until they can live independently again.
His classroom is often a kitchen and can be very hands-on as he conducts cooking classes with adults whose previous experience may have been limited to heating a microwave dinner.
“We cover a lot of nutritional topics: meal planning, shopping tips, food safety,” said Strand. “There were a lot of topics, but primarily it was focused on food in some way.”
For some of his adult students, the classes were required as part of their recovery, so interest levels varied.
“I would say that as with any educational opportunity, we have those who are very interested, others less so,” he said. “Most adults coming to the class were there because they wanted to be.”
That has certainly been the experience for Diana Ricci, the program administrator for the EMPOWER program, part of the Hibbing Housing and Rehabilitation Agency.
Strand taught a monthly class for the program, which is designed to give residents of the city’s subsidized housing the skills to break free of government programs.
Ricci said Strand’s monthly class was fun and engaging and usually hands-on.
“Chris is a very good educator,” said Ricci. “You could tell from the many great questions that the engagement between Chris and the residents was top-notch. He usually would do a cooking class, so everyone was always excited when Chris was coming. It’s going to be a huge loss for us.”
While Strand worked regularly with adults, he also spent considerable time in school classrooms, teaching many of the same lessons with students. He said he works with up to 100 students in a busy week, half that during slower times.
Strand also visited with area grocers, talking to them about things they can do to emphasize healthier options in their stores.
“We’re trying to modify the environment for people,” he said. He also works with area farmers markets to encourage and help enable them to accept SNAP payments, giving SNAP recipients access to wholesome, locally grown produce.
Early start on the Bois Forte reservations
The work of SNAP-Ed starts early for Amber Harman, the SNAP-Ed coordinator for the Bois Forte Reservation program. The education mission starts with expectant mothers to help give their infants a solid start, and the work continues from there.
“We really have three areas of implementation,” said Harman. “We have the direct education portion, where we teach about nutrition and ways to make healthier choices. We also talk about leading more active lifestyles and making healthy lifestyles more affordable.”
They run a garden club, as well, which has been popular.
“We’ve had awesome feedback on that,” said Harman. “And we always get good turnout for cooking classes.”
The programming extends to places like Head Start, the Boys and Girls Clubs, and in the Nett Lake and North Woods schools. And, like Strand, they’ve reached out to stores that serve the tribal community, like the C-Store at Nett Lake and the Y Store, near Tower, to encourage making better food choices available.
Harman says she’s seen the difference these efforts make during her eight years with the program.
“The biggest thing I’ve noticed is that the class that graduated last year, I had them in Head Start, I’ve seen them grow up. They are really good at knowing information about nutrition and making healthy choices. So, I know that this is very impactful on our community.”
Looking ahead
Both Strand and Harman say they want their work to continue, and both say those discussions are ongoing.
“There are some ideas being looked at,” said Strand, but he’s not optimistic. Most alternatives focus on county funding, which is unlikely given the other cuts and new unfunded mandates handed down from Washington.
Harman is a bit more optimistic given some of the other funding streams that tribes have traditionally had available.
“My staff and myself don’t want to see any of our projects fall through. Our grant writer is looking for funding for us. It seems there are a few opportunities but we’re still weighing them out. We don’t have a source identified yet.”