Nutrition Program Coordinators Convene at 2026 EFNEP Conference

Lincoln University of Missouri's (LU) Judith Mutamba joined over 100 nutrition specialists from across the country on March 2-5 for the 2026 National EFNEP Coordinators' Conference in Kansas City.

EFNEP, or the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, is a federal program focused on educating resource-limited communities about nutrition and reducing nutrition insecurity.

The conference brought representatives from 1862 and 1890 land-grant universities together to receive training, share valuable knowledge and plan for the future.

Mutamba, an assistant professor and state extension specialist for human nutrition and health, represented Lincoln at the event.

During the conference, Mutamba and her peers heard from featured speakers, received training and learned about the newest policies passed down from Washington, D.C. They also held regional meetings to coordinate education efforts across universities, learned about available resources and split off into breakout sessions to hear about specific topics.

Mutamba's breakout session, which drew about 20 people, discussed how nutrition program associates can integrate underutilized, nutritious crops into family diets.

She told her peers how, out of some 30,000 edible plant species, only 7,000 are used in our diets and no more than 150 have been commercialized. Only 103 of those species provide 90 percent of energy in our diets, with four staple crops - wheat, rice, maize and potatoes - supplying 60 percent of our caloric needs.

That means thousands of crops with high nutritional value and medicinal benefits are going unused.

Mutamba noted program associates already help families develop nutritious diets, so integrating underutilized nutritious crops would fit naturally into current efforts.

"I feel it's the nutrition associates who are out there with the people who should really be telling people about these foods," Mutamba said. "Because if they don't do it, nobody else will."

Mutamba further explained that by not utilizing these crops, or omitting them from diet recommendations, we enable food waste. She pointed to her work with pumpkin leaves as an example.

Judith Mutamba speaks with 2026 National EFNEP Coordinators' Conference attendees after her breakout session on integrating underutilized nutritious crops into family diets.

While many farmers grow and sell pumpkins for food and recreational use, the leaves often go unharvested and unused, despite being incredibly nutritious. Mutamba works to combat this underutilization by partnering with local organizations and growers to source pumpkin leaves and teach community members how to cook with them.

"With pumpkin leaves, people don't use them because they don't recognize them as food. So, by omission, we're actually promoting food loss. Farmers are producing pumpkin plants, yet the leaves, which are food, are going to waste," Mutamba said. "And it's not just pumpkins; this happens with a variety of foods."

Conference attendees responded positively to Mutamba's presentation. She said one student asked to work for her and another woman invited her to speak later this spring in Oklahoma.

Mutamba's favorite part of the conference was presenting and getting to show off the work being done at Lincoln.

However, she said the most important aspect of the event was receiving knowledge and guidance she can pass down to her program associates.

"It was really valuable. It's a meeting of all coordinators, so we share what everyone is doing in their states, and we learn new things, like policy changes," Mutamba said. "But the main thing is for us to know how best to prepare our nutrition program assistants who are out there educating communities."

She said the conference was particularly helpful in understanding how to onboard new team members, which will come in handy as she recently expanded her team of nutrition associates.

With knowledge passed down from peers and experts, Mutamba can equip her team with up-to-date guidance on how to deliver nutrition education to their communities.

Learn more about LU's Human Nutrition & Health Program here.

To learn more about pumpkin leaves and other underutilized, nutritious crops, reach out to Mutamba at 573-681-5392 or [email protected].