Family and Consumer Sciences

What is Kombucha?

Kombucha is a lightly fizzy, fermented tea made with tea, sugar, and a live culture known as a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast). The fermentation process creates a refreshing beverage that contains beneficial organic acids and live cultures.

During this class, you'll learn the science behind fermentation, proper brewing techniques, essential food safety practices, and how to confidently brew your own kombucha at home. Best of all, you'll leave with your very own Kombucha Brewing Kit so you can begin brewing right away! Come sip, learn, and ferment with us—we look forward to seeing you!

This event will be held in person and online via Zoom. Be sure to select the appropriate ticket!

Food Safety: Capture the Flavor Healthy Cooking with Herbs and Spices

Join us for a fun and informative online event where we'll explore the world of healthy cooking with herbs and spices! Learn how to enhance the flavor of your dishes while keeping them safe to eat. Whether you're a seasoned chef or a beginner in the kitchen, there's something for everyone in this session. Healthy Cooking using culinary herbs and spices!

September is Food Safety Awareness Month ! We Welcome you to our online event on Food Safety: Fall Food Safety, Nutrition and Wellness Tips! Join us on Thursday, September 3rd at 11:30 AM EDT to learn about how to keep your food safe and healthy this fall season. Our experts will share nutrition and wellness tips to help you make the most of your meals. Don't miss out on this opportunity to enhance your knowledge and improve your well-being. Register now and get ready to dive into the world of food safety!

Growing your own food is one of the simplest ways to improve both nutrition and overall wellness. When you combine gardening with healthy eating, you’re not just growing plants— you’re growing access to fresh, nutrient-rich foods that can support your daily meals in a powerful way.

Fresh vegetables like spring salad greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, mint, onions, squash, jalapeños, and spinach are easy to grow in small garden spaces, raised beds, or even containers. These foods don’t require complicated setups—just sunlight, good soil, water, and a little consistency.

Once harvested, they can be used immediately in everyday meals. Imagine adding crisp cucumbers and tomatoes to a fresh side salad, mixing spinach into smoothies or sautéed dishes, or using fresh parsley and mint to brighten flavor without extra salt. Even onions, squash, and jalapeños can easily move from garden to skillet, making meals more flavorful and nutrient dense. Gardening also encourages better eating habits. When healthy food is visible, fresh, and accessible, it becomes easier to include it in daily routines—breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s a practical way to support wellness, reduce processed foods, and reconnect with what we eat.

Food as Medicine

This Food as Medicine session explores the intersection of nutrition science, functional foods, and seasonal dietary strategies to support health, prevent chronic disease, and address emerging public health priorities. Designed for faculty, practitioners, and health-focused educators, this session integrates current research with practical applications for individual and community wellness.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will:

1. Understand Seasonal and Functional Foods: Examine the benefits of spring-specific foods, including their nutrient density, phytonutrient content, and role in supporting detoxification, immunity, and cellular health.
2. Explore Superfoods and Chronic Disease Prevention: Identify evidence-based superfoods and their mechanisms for addressing inflammation, oxidative stress, and chronic health conditions.
3. Integrate Dietary Guidelines and Nutrient Principles: Review the latest Dietary Guidelines, emphasizing the 7 core nutrients for health, nutrient density, and strategies to meet caloric needs while managing chronic disease.
4. Develop Practical Meal Planning Skills: Learn to plan balanced meals using pantry staples, seasonal produce, and nutrient-dense ingredients to enhance health and food security.
5. Address Food Safety and Insecurity: Examine strategies for maintaining food safety, reducing waste, and supporting populations experiencing limited access to nutritious foods.

Join the University of Maryland Extension Family and Consumer Science Educator for an online webinar to learn more about the MIND Diet. The MIND Diet is a hybrid of the DASH diet and Mediterranean diet that can make a difference in the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, as you age.

Join us to learn about the foods that help improve brain activity, focus, mental alertness and mental wellness.

This class is for beginners and will cover the basics for canning jams and jellies. Learn from a food safety expert and get more confidence canning!

Health insurance can be confusing and many people find it difficult to choose and use a health insurance plan. For professionals, it is important to understand how health insurance literacy can affect health behaviors and how education can help improve health insurance literacy. 

University of Maryland Extension’s Health Insurance Literacy Team is offering this webinar to help professionals improve their knowledge of this topic and understand health insurance literacy resources they can use in their work.

After this webinar, participants will:

* be able to define health insurance literacy

* be able to list 3 ways health insurance literacy can affect health behavior according to research

* understand how the Smart Choice, Smart Use program is utilized to improve health insurance literacy in the population

• * understand the evidence supporting the effectiveness of the Smart Choice, Smart Use program

Join us for a fun and informative online event where we'll explore the world of healthy cooking with herbs and spices! Learn how to enhance the flavor of your dishes while keeping them safe to eat. Whether you're a seasoned chef or a beginner in the kitchen, there's something for everyone in this session. Healthy Cooking using culinary herbs and spices!

The Dining with Diabetes program is offered as a series of four weekly classes and one follow up class after three months.

Mondays in June: 1, 8, 15, 22 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM

*Follow up session: September 21

LOCATION:

Eastern Shore Area Health Center,  814 Chesapeake Drive, Cambridge, MD 21613

Each in-person session includes diabetes education and food tastings.

This program is led by Registered Dietitians and trained University of Maryland Extension Educators in consultation with Registered Dietitians.

*If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in any event or activity, please contact Lynn Matava at (301) 226-7713 or lmatava@umd.edu no later than 5/20/2026

University programs, activities, and facilities are available to all without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, national origin, political affiliation, physical or mental disability, religion, protected veteran status, genetic information, personal appearance, or any other legally protected class.