MNC 2025 Summer Educational Event

Muhidin Libah (he/him), Executive Director and co-founder of the Somali Bantu Community Association, was born in Southern Somalia, grew up in a Kenyan refugee camp, and came to the United States in 2004. He has co-founded multiple nonprofits including the Middle Jubba Relief and Sustainability Organization, Somali Bantu Community Association of Syracuse, and Somali Bantu Community Association of Maine. His special expertise and focus includes food production, food security, and sustainability. He has extensive experience farming in Somalia with the skills and

knowledge to teach his community members many elements of their cultural heritage. He graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a B.S. in Natural Applied Science with a Biology Concentration and a Minor in Holistic Health.

Join us in person for MNC’s 2025 Annual Conference as we explore the dynamic and evolving world of food, nutrition, and sustainability. This year’s theme, Seeds of Change: Exploring New Landscapes of Food, will bring together a diverse community of educators, healthcare professionals, foodservice leaders, researchers, policymakers, and advocates working across the nutrition spectrum. Engage in thought-provoking conversations, taste local innovations, and explore the cultural, environmental, and nutritional shifts shaping what we eat.

We’re honored to welcome keynote speaker June Jo Lee, a renowned food ethnographer based in San Francisco. In her keynote address, “Food is Life’s First Lesson,” June Jo will unpack the deeper meanings behind our food choices and examine how “modern hungers” influence what and how we eat. She’ll decode Gen Z’s spicy, rich, and complex relationship with food and challenge us to consider how we might guide young eaters through life’s first lesson: learning what’s good to eat.

There will be a choice of two 1-hour breakout sessions. Including:

• Readers to Eaters: Nourishing One Eater at a Time, with June Jo Lee & Philip Lee.

• Good Grains on the Go, with Heather Kerner, Founder & CEO of The Good Crust.

• Tasting the Tides: Student Innovation at the Nexus of Nutrition and Ocean Health, with the UNE Kelp Bar Innovation Team.

• Understanding Ultraprocessed Foods, with Dr. Mary Ellen Camire, Professor, UMaine Food Science & Human Nutrition.

In the afternoon, attendees will rotate through a curated series of hands-on tasting experiences featuring innovative local food entrepreneurs. Including:

• Minimize Waste, Maximize Flavor: How an Ancient Fish Sauce Can Help Solve Modern Problems, presented by Liam Fisher, Founder of Maine Garum Company.

• Edible Insects from Entosense, presented by Bill Broadbent, Co-Founder of Entosense.

• Tide to Table: How and Why to Include Sea Vegetables in a Healthy Diet, presented by Kara Ibarguen, Maine Coast Sea Vegetables.

Additional Info: 

• Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.

• Exhibitors will be on site throughout the day.

• 2025 Scholarships & Awards will be announced.

• Door prizes!