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Air Force Veteran Finds Meaning in New Career with USDA Rural Development

May 25, 2023 Mariela Castaneda, USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement

Veteran Tray Middlebrooks grew up in Merritt Island, Florida, and Manassas, Virginia. After college, he wanted to follow a reliable and purposeful path forward. He went on to serve 10 years of active duty as an Air Force medic stationed in Nevada and Florida followed by three years in the Florida...

Equity Initiatives

USDA Outreach to Guam, Pacific Islanders

May 19, 2023 Marcia Bunger, Administrator of USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA)

May marks Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. America is home to more than 20.6 million people whose ancestors came to our country from Asia and the Pacific.

Equity Initiatives

USDA Celebrates Renee McDonald, a Georgia Woman-Owned Agriculture Entrepreneur during National Small Business Month

May 18, 2023 staff of USDA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization

Renee McDonald, a first-generation sheep producer in Lee County Georgia, spends many nights monitoring newborn ewes. In the last lambing season at Sheepy Acres Farm, eight out of ten of her pregnant ewes gave birth to twins. The lambing season holds many memories, but it also presents challenges...

Equity Farming Initiatives

The Path to Prosperity Event in Georgia Gives Boosts to Small Businesses in the Southeastern U.S.

May 15, 2023 staff of USDA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization

It was a great start to National Small Business Month at the Southeast States “Path to Prosperity" event in Albany, Georgia on May 2. Path to Prosperity is a regional business and economic development workshop series that features experts from the financial industry, federal government, community...

Equity Farming Initiatives

Dr. Alexis Racelis: Propagating Equitable Ag Research and Science

April 26, 2023 Laura Crowell, Communications Lead, USDA Equity Commission

For America’s farmers, science can act as a form of capital. According to Dr. Alexis Racelis, access to science is not always funded, developed, or distributed equitably.

Equity Initiatives

School Breakfast: A Jump Start to a Great Day

April 25, 2023 Tony Craddock, Jr., Public Affairs Specialist, Food and Nutrition Service

How you start your day sets the tone for the rest of your day! School breakfast programs are critical in building a healthier future for America’s children.

Food and Nutrition Initiatives Nutrition Security

USDA Takes Steps to Prevent Illegal Child Labor

April 12, 2023 USDA Office of Communications

Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has seen a 69 percent increase in children being employed illegally by companies. In the last fiscal year, the department found 835 companies it investigated had employed more than 3,800 children in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In February...

Equity Initiatives

USDA’s Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison Helps Military Vet Get a Job at USDA

April 06, 2023 Stephanie Ho, USDA Office of Communications

Veteran John Langdon served for 20 years of active duty in the U.S. Army, including deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. He retired in July 2021, with a full career of service under his belt, but without a full appreciation of how challenging it would be to find a civilian...

Equity Initiatives

105-Year-Old Fondy Farmers Market Increases Access to Healthy, Local Food and Economic Opportunity in Greater Milwaukee Area

April 06, 2023 Penny Weaver, Acting Midwest Public Affairs Director, Food and Nutrition Service with guest author Stephen Petro, Fondy Farm Director and Chief Operating Officer

Last fall, Stacy Dean, USDA’s Deputy Under Secretary for Food Nutrition and Consumer Services, visited the Fondy Farmers Market, Milwaukee's 105-year-old, largest, and first farmers market in Wisconsin to accept SNAP!

Equity Food and Nutrition Initiatives Nutrition Security

Secretary Tom Vilsack Visits Greeley Evans School District

April 04, 2023 Anjali Budhiraja, USDA FNS Public Affairs Specialist with Dr. Deirdre Pilch, Superintendent, Greeley Evans School District 6, guest author

Greeley-Evans School District 6 in northern Colorado was honored and excited to welcome Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to Maplewood Elementary School on March 22. The Secretary and visitors were able to see just one school of more than 30 in District 6 that provide essential health and...

Equity Food and Nutrition Initiatives Nutrition Security