USDA Blog

What better way to celebrate National School Lunch Week than visiting winners of our USDA HealthierUS School Challenge! It was an honor to visit North Dakota and Texas schools that are going the extra mile to help children adopt healthier lifestyles. Our winners, the Phoenix, Brenham, and Krause...

After struggling for several years with a stagnant economy, the future is looking brighter for Paulsboro, New Jersey. Earlier this week, USDA Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Cheryl Cook, Assistant Administrator for the Water and Environmental Program Jacki Ponti, and I attended an event to...

USDA Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Vasquez and Congressman Bob Etheridge along with North Carolina Rural Development State Director Randall Gore visited the Middlesex Elementary School construction site in Nash County, North Carolina earlier this week. The project was funded through the...

As Child Nutrition Director for USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, one of my top priorities is to improve the nutrition and health of our nation’s children. With the Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization, we have an opportunity to pass legislation that will combat childhood hunger and obesity among...

Yesterday I accompanied Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, State Director for Michigan Rural Development James Turner and Congressman Mark Schauer on a visit to the Center for Family Health (CFH) in Jackson, a city about 30 miles south of Lansing.

Please join us for music, food, games and other merriment at USDA’s Harvest Festival this Friday, October 29 th, from 10 am to 2 pm in the People’s Garden and Farmers Market at USDA Headquarters on the corner of Jefferson Drive and 12 Street, SW in Washington, DC.

Cross-posted from the White House Blog. The estimated number of jobs created or saved through USDA Recovery Act investments in rural America continues to grow. Today, I am in Ohio, where USDA has provided over $59.5 million in loan guarantees to help rural businesses grow, innovate and create jobs...

On the first day of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2010, USDA Rural Development and Calais Regional Hospital came together with the mission of saving lives. The hospital’s outdated mammography machine was being replaced with a state-of- the-art digital mammography machine, funded in part by...

Greenwood County, Kansas is a fragile rural economy. Despite the current challenges of outmigration, unemployment and economic resources a bold step was taken recently as Madison Telephone, LLC broke ground to begin construction of a Fiber-to-the-Premises project in its certified service area, which...

Saturday, October 23, 2010 -- This morning dawned a beautiful, crisp, autumn day here in the District of Columbia. As the sun climbed above the horizon, over 500 volunteers gathered to build a playground at the Hyde Leadership Charter School in northeast DC. Among the volunteers were Secretary and...