USDA Blog

I just participated in a wonderful school nutrition conference in Athens, GA that ran from September 28-30. It was Georgia’s annual School Nutrition Directors’ Conference, and I found it to be very well organized and packed with important information.

The potato is the world’s fourth largest food crop and is the largest vegetable crop in the United States. The crop originated in the Andes Mountains in South America, and in the ensuing 7,000 years, has spread across the globe. Potatoes have played an important role in saving populations of people...

Farming for the Eldridge family began in the late 1800’s when Hoover Eldridge’s grandfather settled in the eastern portion of Stewart County, Tenn. Through the years the farming operation has consisted of producing crops such as corn, soybeans and tobacco, as well as a variety of livestock such as...

Six months ago the Apps for Healthy Kids competition called upon Americans to design engaging online or mobile games and tools to educate people of all ages about the importance of healthy eating and physical activity. As part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative, this challenge brought...

“It is our belief that by supporting our local farmers today, we can ensure that there will be farms in our community tomorrow.” - Kent Myers, former City of Hot Springs Manager Recently Hot Springs, Arkansas dedicated its new Farmers Market Pavilion at the Historic Downtown Farmers Market in Hot...

Cross posted from the FSA blog. The senior citizen’s centers in seven Kentucky counties are benefitting from fresh produce grown as part of the West Liberty Service Center People’s Garden.

This summer I had the honor of organizing the Feds, Farmers and Friends Feed Families Food Drive for the Southwest Region Food and Nutrition Service. As the human resources liaison for the region, I don’t get the opportunity to work directly with partners or clients so this food drive gave me a very...

They say that variety is the spice of life. Well, you can’t get much more variety than in the plant world. Genetic variation exists for many traits in all crops. For example, although most carrots on grocers’ shelves are orange, carrots can also be white, yellow, green, or purple. Most potatoes are...

As part of CNN’s week-long series “Eatrocracy: Mind, Body and Wallet,” the USDA’s National Farmers Market Directory is featured in a unique way to encourage consumers to use farmers markets as a source of fresh, local and healthy food. The series showcases our database of more than 6,200 farmers...

As a service to farmers, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) recently presented an interactive webinar entitled “How to Sell Fruits and Vegetables to the USDA”. The webinar was hosted by Red Book Credit Services as part of its free Red Book University educational offering. Delivered by Ron...