USDA Blog

It’s an exciting day in the country as we kickoff the second, historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. It’s been more than 50 years since the last conference, which produced impactful, meaningful changes to improve USDA nutrition assistance programs, including SNAP, WIC, and...

It’s eight in the morning, and farmers with hand hoes and buckets have been here for two hours already, weeding and watering their plots before the heat of the day. Over 200 members of the Somali Bantu community of Lewiston, Maine, make the short drive out to Liberation Farms a few times each week...

In May 2022, FNS Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Dr. Patty Bennett joined Maryland Department of Aging Deputy Secretary Bernice Hutchinson and other nutrition partners at Sandtown Winchester Senior Center in West Baltimore to promote “ My Groceries to Go,” the Commodity Supplemental Food Program...

They called the next participant; a woman and her child exited the waiting area to meet at my desk. I introduced myself and asked, “How are you doing today?” She reluctantly answered, “good” with disinterest in her eyes. I detected a Spanish accent which prompted me to ask which language she...

Discrimination in any form is unacceptable, and we cannot allow it to prevent a hungry person from getting the food they need. At USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), we work to ensure that all those who are eligible for USDA’s nutrition assistance programs have equal access and opportunity to...

The Food Basket-Hawai‘i Island’s Food Bank took its first stride in creating place-based nutrition education resources for Hawai‘i’s keiki (the Hawaiian word for children). Launched in 2021, the book Kai and Hōkū Explore Foods of Hawaiʻi helps families and early childcare providers explore local...

Small community-based stores, such as corner stores, are convenient places to shop for simple food items. However, smaller stores often have limited inventory – especially for nutritious options. Cooking Matters Colorado and Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center’s School Wellness Programs...

Tribal nations across what we now consider the Great Plains relied for millennia on their buffalo relatives for food, medicine, clothing, tools, and shelter. Yet today it is hard to find buffalo meat on school meal trays in the very areas where they once sustained Native communities. The Food and...

In honor of the 30th Anniversary of SNAP-Ed, Western Regional Administrator, Jesus Mendoza, Jr., and I attended Rosemary Elementary School in Campbell, CA. The local SNAP-Ed team – which is officially referred to as CalFresh Healthy Living – led a presentation on nutrition education and discussed...

“Hello, Mommy!” These are the first warm, welcoming words moms participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, hear when arriving for an appointment at the Mary’s Center (Petworth) WIC Clinic in Northwest D.C. If English isn’t mommy’s...