USDA Blog

We would like to give thanks this holiday season to America’s farmers and ranchers who help bring delicious food to tables across the nation this holiday season. And just where in the United States are traditional holiday foods produced?

Did you know that the wild turkey nearly triumphed over the bald eagle as the symbol of America? Yes, it’s true. Proponents as luminous as Benjamin Franklin once advocated for the turkey to be the symbol on the Great Seal of The United States. That’s all history now, but the turkey remains of strong...

The cranberries that are traditionally a part of Thanksgiving dinner may have a brighter future because of what Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists found when they went digging recently in a remote marsh in Wisconsin.

At first blush, a five-star hotel and a local community food kitchen would seem to have little in common. An innovative program funded by USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City, Va., and the DC Central Kitchen (DCCK) in Washington, D.C., have...

More than 46 million turkeys are eaten on Thanksgiving Day and with the never-ending list of side dishes and desserts, it is by far the largest and most stressful meal many consumers prepare all year, leaving room for mistakes that can make guests sick.

Stuffing is a big favorite around the Thanksgiving holiday. Although it is delicious, covered with gravy and mixed with slices of moist turkey, this side dish can also be dangerous. Because moist, warm stuffing is an excellent medium for bacterial growth, it's important to handle it safely and cook...

Are you interested in brining a turkey, but aren’t quite sure how to do it safely? USDA is at your service! Though brining may sound like something only done commercially or by a certified chef, it’s quite simple with the right strategy — that means following safe food preparation steps.

Life on our national grasslands, some of the most distinct and treasured ecosystems in the world, depends on regrowth from buds, rather than seeds. Those endless expanses of grass exist because of plant buds, and at this time of year grasses have finished forming buds beneath the earth’s surface...

Turducken. The name doesn’t sound appetizing, but once you cut into the triple layers of chicken, duck and turkey, you can see why people bypass the traditional Thanksgiving turkey for this all-in-one, mega-stuffed delicacy.

Diabetes is the 7 th leading cause of death in the United States, yet many are not aware that they have the deadly disease—or that it may be stalking them.