HBMI Community Health Education

04/15/2026

Turn your recipe into a business! 🍓🥫

University of Maine Cooperative Extension is offering the Recipe to Market Program, a hands-on workshop for anyone ready to take a favorite recipe from kitchen to marketplace.

📅 Wednesday, April 22, 2026
🕘 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
💻 Online via Zoom

This interactive session covers everything you need to get started, including:
• Licensing & regulations
• Food safety & product development
• Packaging & preparing products
• Business basics & profitability

Perfect for farmers, food entrepreneurs, and anyone exploring a home-based food business in Maine.

👉 Register here:
https://extension.umaine.edu/food-health/event/recipe-to-market-program/

04/15/2026

04/15/2026

Spring is a great time to hit the reset button and reintroduce some fresh foods into your kids' diet after a long winter. Get into the swing of spring with these four seasonal favorites.

04/15/2026

Come check out the newly decorated table in our Health Clinic waiting room!

04/10/2026

You might already be on your way to managing your cholesterol: Healthy lifestyle habits like these are the first step! Creating habits that support your heart health starts with one small step. Your doctor can help guide you.

04/10/2026

Love preserving food? Applications close May 1! 🍓🥫

University of Maine Cooperative Extension is now accepting applications for the Master Food Preserver Volunteer Program—and the deadline is quickly approaching!

📍 Somerset County (Skowhegan area)
📅 Application deadline: May 1 (by 4:30 p.m.)

This hands-on program includes kitchen labs and classes where you’ll learn safe, research-based food preservation techniques like canning, freezing, drying, and fermenting, then share that knowledge with your community.

👩‍🍳 Open to Maine residents 18+
⏳ Limited space, application required

👉 Learn more & apply: extension.umaine.edu/food-health/food-preservation/master-food-preservers/

04/01/2026

Spring is finally here🌸 After a long winter season, it's a good idea to do some spring cleaning around the kitchen.

Don't forget to check way in the back of the refrigerator! If you come across moldy foods during cleaning, what should you do? 🤢

- Some molds produce toxins (poisons) and determining which do and which don't is difficult. The most toxic molds grow on grains. The visible mold may not be all the mold that developed. The threadlike hyphae (the equivalent of roots) may have penetrated the food.

- Some foods, such as blue cheese, get their flavor from mold growth. Any visibly moldy foods that should not have mold growth should be discarded. If only a small area of mold is found on a piece of hard block cheese, hard salami or a dry-cured country ham, the food can be salvaged by cutting out an inch of the product surrounding and below the moldy area. Keep the knife out of the mold itself and re-cover the food in fresh wrap.

Learn how to prevent foods from molding from NDSU Extension >>> https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/extension/publications/food-my-kitchen-safety-hazard #:~:text=Molds,-Molds

04/01/2026

Eating seasonal produce can be healthy and delicious. What are your springtime favorites?

04/01/2026

Today children at the Maliseet Head Start participated in National Nutrition Month. We kept the theme “Eat the Rainbow” and this time we tried the vegetable rainbow. They also had muffins with a surprise ingredient- zucchini! Perfect for showing how you can eat foods that are yummy and healthy.

The muffins were a big hit with the kids!

The children named their favorite vegetables and we worked on identifying two of the food groups- fruits and vegetables.

We also read “Get Your Dragon to Eat Healthy Food” by Steve Herman. The children were also given Nutrition crowns to take home and decorate with their families.

Link to muffin recipe:
https://theoregondietitian.com/double-chocolate-zucchini-muffins/

🌈🥦🥒🥕🍅🫑🍓

03/22/2026

You might already know registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) are experts on food and nutrition. But did you know RDNs are uniquely able to provide medical nutrition therapy (MNT)?

03/19/2026

A wonderful community resource coming up for families in our region. 💕

The Maternal Mobile Health Unit from the Maine CDC will be in Houlton on April 30th offering free diapers, car seats, screenings, and connections to helpful services for families.

If you know an expecting mom, a new parent, or a family who could benefit, please pass this along. 🍼👶🏼

📍 Walmart Parking Lot – Houlton
🗓 Thursday, April 30
⏰ 9 AM – 2 PM