USDA Blog

Since the launch of My Plate, the United States Department of Agriculture’s new food icon, photos of your interpretation of a perfect plate have been filling our twitter feeds. Many of you have captured pictures of your healthy meal and posted these photos to twitter followed by the hashtag #MyPlate...

Anyone can be healthy “if you eat right and try to get moving,” said a young participant in Move Across Missouri, a program developed in partnership with University of Missouri Extension 4-H and the Missouri Beef Industry Council. Move Across Missouri encourages 4-Hers to increase their physical...

Drum roll please…. The long anticipated winners of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Recipes for Healthy Kids competition were announced this morning by Secretary Vilsack. USDA and the First Lady launched the Recipes for Healthy Kids competition last September, challenging kids, nutrition professionals...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: In his opening remarks at this season’s first Department of Agriculture Farmers Market, held adjacent to our headquarters on the National Mall, Secretary Vilsack spoke about the national movement to rebuild our rural economy and connect urban communities with...

On May 26, I got to go back home to the Rio Grande Valley – the southernmost region in the continental United States – to help promote new sites for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). The SFSP provides free, nutritious meals and snacks to help children in low-income neighborhoods get the...

Last Thursday, First Lady Michelle Obama, Secretary Vilsack, and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin unveiled the Department of Agriculture’s newest food icon, MyPlate. A simple visual cue, MyPlate is intended to remind Americans to think about building a healthy plate for every meal. That message...

More than 300 children joined the First Lady’s Office and other administration officials recently for the launch of Let’s Move! in Indian Country (LMIC) on the Menominee Reservation in Wisconsin. The event took place at the Keshena Woodland Bowl, where the children played and exercised outdoors...

It was quite an active week as I represented the USDA at the 10 th annual African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum. While in Zambia, I had the opportunity to see firsthand a USDA-funded food assistance program in action. This included a Local and Regional Procurement ( LRP) Pilot Project that...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: Most kids get excited about summer vacation. But for those who depend on school lunch and breakfast for their main meals of the day, they’re not as excited about summer. Unfortunately, hunger doesn’t take a vacation. Without cafeterias as the natural gathering...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: Monday was the first day of the first ever National Summer Food Service Program Week: “Food That’s in When School is Out”. When the school year ends, many children and teens who rely on School Meals are at a higher risk of going hungry during the summer when...