USDA Blog

The United States has a long history of helping those in need and USDA has played a large role in these efforts over the years. The U.S. government’s food assistance programs were born in a time of conflict. Food aid played a crucial role in the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. Farm and...

Each summer, children wait for the last bell of the school year. Summer is an exciting time for children to enjoy playtime with friends, a week at camp, a family vacation, or time at the pool. But for many children who receive free and reduced-price meals at school, summer can mean hunger. Just as...

Celebrations always seem bigger in Texas. And the one on February 25, at Brawner Intermediate School in Granbury, Texas, was no exception. The event recognized the school’s invaluable partnership with dairy farmers, the Fuel Up to Play 60 program and USDA, who teamed to make an unprecedented pledge...

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the U.S. Department of Agriculture blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the agency’s rich science and research portfolio. During this week – National Agriculture Week—agriculture groups all across the country are...

Although the U.S. Forest Service Planning Rule is still a draft document, it has helped to produce environmental change for one special group of involved students. Over the past year this special group of young adults attended planning rule public sessions, followed developing issues, and then...

Cross posted from the Let's Move blog: Last month USDA facilitated a school garden design session and since that time, landscape architects Matt Arnn and Bob Snieckus have been working hard to incorporate parent, teacher and student ideas into an ideal plan that would transform the large expanse of...

I’ve worked for the Food Safety and Inspection Service for 21 years, and for the past six years, I’ve had the opportunity to help reduce foodborne illness in a unique way outside of my usual job description—by talking to local 8 th grade science students about how to “ Fight Bac!” My husband...

When Dina Brewster’s grandparents bought their place in Ridgefield, Connecticut, in 1936, the town was dominated by small farms. Many of those farms eventually disappeared to development, or were leased or abandoned. But now some are being revitalized—sometimes, as in Brewster’s case, by the...

One of the things I started to do when I became Under Secretary for Food Safety at USDA was to hold town hall meetings with Food Safety and Inspection Service field staff and Administrator Al Almanza. This week I had the pleasure of holding such a meeting with our headquarters staff in Washington. I...

In 1995, the Girl Scouts of the USA adopted “ Linking Girls to the Land,” a program supported by the U.S. Forest Service and one that echoes the non-profit organization’s nearly decade-long legacy of helping to build girls of courage, confidence and character, and who make the world a better place...