The Stakes: Richmond cooking class is a casualty of Trump administration SNAP-Ed cuts

This story is part of “The Stakes,” a UC Berkeley Journalism project on executive orders and actions affecting Californians and their communities. It was co-published with Richmondside.

A recent Cooking Matters class at the nonprofit Rubicon Richmond began with a bit of show-and-tell. The 10 or so people in the room each shared the favorite foods they ate over the past weekend. Eli Cruz, who was leading the class, tried a Purple Haze latte. Carolyn, one of the students, had Greek yogurt ice cream with cake crunch and honey. Joshua cooked himself scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes and English muffins.

“I celebrated my six months being out of prison.” Joshua said. “No violations, no nothing.” The class clapped for him. “That’s basically the best meal I had in a while.” 

Cooking Matters is a free, four- to-six-week course that teaches nutrition and healthy shopping and cooking practices for kids and adults. It’s sponsored by the Bay Area cooking nonprofit 18 Reasons and offered in Alameda, San Francisco, and Contra Costa counties throughout schools, libraries and community-based organizations such as Rubicon Richmond, a workforce development program. It is funded  by $50,000 in federal funds through Contra Costa County, which contracts with 18 Reasons to provide nutrition education for those enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

But 18 Reasons will not be getting that funding after this year, because Congress eliminated the SNAP-Ed program as part of President Donald Trump’s new spending bill. Without federal funding, 18 Reasons will only continue if it gets money from donors, foundations and local governments, said Francesca Boulton, 18 Reasons community programs director.

The loss is part of a $187 billion cut to the SNAP program over the next nine years that will shift much of the program’s financial burden to states and tighten eligibility requirements. More than 400,000 Californians are expected to lose SNAP benefits, with about 18,000 recipients being forced off the rolls, according to the California Budget & Policy Center. (The food assistance program for individuals and families is currently in limbo as its funding ran out Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown, and Trump is resisting a court ruling ordering him to use emergency Agriculture Department funds to restart it.)

While 18 Reasons expects to meet its funding goals this year, Boulton fears the loss of SNAP-Ed and the ongoing benefits freeze is contributing to a shift around nutrition policy that will make it more difficult to keep the program funded. In the face of this challenge, 18 Reasons is determined to offer Cooking Matters programming, though Boulton said, “We might have to be more strategic about when and where we are offering programs. We might have to have a smaller food budget for the classes.”

By the end of this year, 18 Reasons expects to have offered 27 Cooking Matters courses. Since 2023, more than 300 SNAP recipients in west Contra Costa County have taken part in the courses. 

‘Mise en place’

Before the Cooking Matters class began at Rubicon Richmond, Cruz and 18 Reasons program coordinator Molly Kornfeind gave a lesson on how to read nutrition labels and look for whole grains while grocery shopping. 

“The main issue when it comes to the United States, is our diets are very high in calories and very low in nutrients,” Cruz said.

After the nutrition lesson, volunteer chef Denise Johnson talked about cutting board sanitation Johnson has been teaching with Cooking Matters for two years. Before launching her lesson, she asked the class if they remembered what the French term “mise en place” meant.

AJ, a highschooler at Life Learning Academy who was attending with her mom, spoke up. “Ready to cook?”

Everyone agreed her answer was close enough to the translation of “everything in its place,” which refers to the organizing of ingredients and utensils before cooking. 

The menu for the third week of class was sweet and savory crepes paired with a spinach salad.

The ordinary classroom became a kitchen, with three portable burners placed on a table at the front. Everyone picked a job. Brenda expertly diced strawberries for the salad. She has been cooking her whole life but said the Cooking Matters classes have taught her how to make healthier choices. Joshua tossed spinach and strawberries with a dressing he had prepared from the recipe provided. He has worked in kitchens but recently started a job at a packaging facility, enabling him  to move into his own apartment. 

Carolyn, by the stovetops, mixed flour, salt, eggs, milk and butter to make the crepe batter. She poured the batter onto the hot pan and swirled it around. The room smelled like pancakes and was filled with laughter as everyone chatted about what they would fill their crepes with — would they be savory with turkey and cheese, or sweet with fresh cut nectarines and maple syrup?

The best part of the Cooking Matters class, said Kimi Barnes, director of program innovations and experience with Rubicon Richmond, is “getting to have that confidence-building experience learning new skills and laughing with other class members.”

At the end of class, Kornfeind handed out grocery bags filled with fruits and vegetables, and Barnes handed out vouchers for a local farmers market. 

The class ended with everyone enjoying the meal they made together. Carolyn cut her crepe in half, saving the other to take home for her mother to sample. 

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