USDA Blog

What does organic certification really mean for a farm? In Lars Crail’s experience as a central California organic pear farmer turned NOP Accreditation Division Audit Supervisor, going organic transformed his orchard and led to a new career helping others achieve organic success.

Before coming to the USDA National Organic Program (NOP), Laura Gallagher worked on farms and with community gardening organizations in the Midwest and Northeast providing training and education. Now Laura helps NOP manage the Organic Integrity Learning Center (OILC) and the Human Capital Capacity...

Thanksgiving is for family and time-honored traditions. The greatest tradition is the centerpiece to your meal – turkey. Over 2,500 American turkey farms work to bring just the right bird to your table. Here are tips to help you select your turkey and pointers to manage leftovers.

Every farmer needs adequate water for their crops. In some U.S. regions, farmers must rely on irrigation to have enough water for their crops. The 2017 Census of Agriculture reports farms with some form of irrigation accounted for 54% of the total value of crop sales (PDF, 121 KB). With water being...

In 2018, only 2.6 million tons of food scraps were composted, compared to 35 million tons that went into landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). What are organizations doing to increase composting in the United States? In observance of International Compost Awareness Week...

This year’s World Food Safety Day theme is “food safety is everyone’s business.” One group with members around the world is focused on the business of science-based food standards to protect consumer health.

The Municipality of Anchorage is the largest urban area in Alaska, with its close to 300,000 residents making up 40 percent of the state’s population. This makes Anchorage a prime area for urban agriculture.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is the largest funder of conservation on private land in the United States, supporting producers’ transitions to beneficial farming and ranching practices. While these transitions can require an upfront cost, they also often lead to financial...

In the United States, more than one-third of all available food goes uneaten through loss or waste and when landfilled it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture hosted our first ever USDA Food Loss and Waste Innovation Fair. This free, virtual...

No matter the language, World Food Safety Day aims to inspire action across the globe to prevent, detect, and manage foodborne risks.