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Showing: 2901 - 2910 of 8118 Results

Save Energy with USDA Rural Development

March 03, 2015 Lillian Salerno, Rural Business-Cooperatives Service (RBS) Administrator

Last month, Secretary Vilsack announced the opening of the new application cycle for our Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). In addition to the announcement, RBS conducted a national REAP stakeholder forum which discussed program changes and provided examples of successful projects from...

Energy Rural

On the Right Side of the Promise

March 02, 2015 Joe Leonard, Jr. Ph.D

As a school kid during the first years of desegregation in the public schools of Austin, Texas, much of my experience of the world around me was shaped by color. I saw and experienced firsthand how discrimination and inequality can stunt and hold back too many Americans--not only through violence...

Initiatives

USDA and Pheasants Forever Renew Partnership to Conservation

March 02, 2015 Val Dolcini, Administrator, Farm Service Agency

I recently attended the 2015 National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic in Des Moines, Iowa, where I met with sportsmen, farmers, young people, wildlife biologists and others who are committed to strengthening wildlife habitat throughout America. It was exciting to see firsthand the passion for the...

Conservation

Investing in Rural Kids Is an Investment in Our Future

March 02, 2015 Doug O'Brien, Senior Policy Advisor for Rural Affairs with the White House Domestic Policy Council

Cross-posted from the White House Rural Council blog: "Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we build an economy where everyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead? ... This country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair...

Food and Nutrition

Want to Know about Soil Moisture on your Farm? Soon, There May be an App for That

March 02, 2015 Wayne Maloney, USDA Office of Communications

“Probably it is one of the most innovative interagency tools on the planet.” So said Dr. Roger Pulwarty, Director of the National Integrated Drought Information System (of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, located in Boulder, CO), in describing the development of a coordinated...

Conservation

National Nutrition Month: Raising a Healthier Generation through Diet, Education

March 02, 2015 Kevin Concannon, Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services

We all want our children to succeed. It’s an important value and one the entire country can rally around. This March we’re redoubling our efforts to that commitment by celebrating National Nutrition Month and the importance of raising a healthier generation of kids. It’s our collective...

Food and Nutrition

Small Start-Up Brings Big Change for Philly Communities

March 02, 2015 Anne L. Alonzo, Agricultural Marketing Service Administrator

It all started with one truck—one truck and the idea that bringing fresh, healthy foods into Philly communities was just a question of coordination. For Haile Johnston and his wife, Tatiana Garcia-Granados, founding Common Market was the logical solution to solve the food access issues they saw in...

Food and Nutrition Farming

President Obama Renews Charge to Help Rural Companies and Communities Compete Globally

February 27, 2015 Ashley Zuelke, Senior Advisor for Export Policy, Promotion and Strategy, International Trade Administration

Cross-posted from the Department of Commerce blog: Yesterday, President Obama announced new commitments in the “Made in Rural America” export and investment initiative, which is charged with bringing together federal trade-related resources for rural communities and businesses. This announcement...

Trade

How Trees Help Fight Climate Change - All Over the World

February 27, 2015 Robert Hudson Westover, U.S. Forest Service Office of Communication

The first in a series of blogs honoring the United Nation’s 2015 International Day of Forests Did you know that carbon dioxide, or CO2, is one of the main contributors to the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change? And, did you know that one averaged-size tree - say a 30-footer - can store...

Forestry

Soils Support Urban Life

February 27, 2015 Kurt Mason, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Kentucky

The United Nations General Assembly has designated 2015 as the International Year of Soils. This is one of a continuing series of blogs to mark this observance. Soil is defined as a dynamic natural body that is made up of solids, liquid and gases and occurs on the earth’s surface, contains living...

Conservation