For Mike Stratten, Extension senior EFNEP health and wellness coordinator, Black men’s health is personal.
He just wrapped up a six-month program called Honorable MENtion at Sabathani Community Center in Minneapolis. In a series of small-group sessions, Stratten brought men and fathers together to talk candidly about their physical, emotional, and mental health and how it affects their relationships with themselves, their families, and their communities.
“This is a place where brothers can feel safe to come together, get advice and resources, vent, ask questions, and be vulnerable about their health concerns or whatever else they’ve got going on,” says Stratten. “There are far too many Black men dying way before their time because of treatable things like high blood pressure, and my goal is to combat those statistics.”
“To me, I look at my work in EFNEP as a part of Black history because many of the county agents and participants served were Black people from the south,” says Stratten. “There is a mission attached to this work we do. I feel like it’s my purpose to carry that torch and keep building a culture of health and wellness in the community.”
EFNEP origins
The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is one of the oldest of its kind in the country.
EFNEP piloted a home-visit model in a handful of states from 1962 to 1967, during the height of the American civil rights movement. The goal was to explore how to reach and teach low-income Americans about nutrition in response to widespread hunger. The USDA launched the program nationally in 1970, and it now operates in all 50 states.
In 2026, UMN Extension EFNEP staff in Hennepin, Ramsey, Anoka and Dakota counties work in places such as community centers, food shelves and schools. They create and deliver a wide range of health promotion programs tailored to participants’ interests and needs.
Prevention is the best medicine
For Stratten, his wake-up call was his father’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2023 and death a year later. Stratten was shocked at how fast his “tough, mountain man” dad’s health had declined. Later, he understood that Stratten Sr. had likely been ill for years without seeing a doctor.
“The dominant narrative is that men don’t really go to the hospital. We feel the pain or a sickness of some sort, and we gaslight ourselves and push through,” says Stratten.
He says of his father’s passing, “It motivated me to be more serious about my health.” He hopes the next generation can eat healthily, enjoy physical activity, and feel no shame about seeing a doctor when struggling physically or mentally.
“There are only a few Black men doing health and wellness work in the community; we need more of us out here,” says Stratten.
“I know that I’m making my ancestors, elders and community proud from wherever they are seeing me from. And my mom, who is still here with us, is proud of me too,” says Stratten.
To hear more of Mike and his dad’s story, watch Real Talk: Men's Health Michael Stratten.
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