USDA Blog

This year, USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) celebrates its 50 th anniversary. ERS was established on April 3, 1961 during the Kennedy Administration, when USDA combined the Department’s economic research functions into one agency. The functions of our predecessor agency, the Bureau of...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: We’re entering the home stretch in the First Lady’s Recipes for Healthy Kids competition. Judges will be fanning out to schools across the country to watch them prepare the delicious recipes that have made it to the semi-finals. My colleague, Audrey Rowe...

Pioneer Care has provided quality senior care services in Fergus Falls, Minn. since 1928. That tradition will continue thanks to a new 105-bed facility that celebrated its grand opening on April 15 as part of USDA Rural Development’s annual Earth Day celebration. Rural Development financed the...

On April 14 th U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) National Deputy Administrator Marie Johns, visited with Nebraska lenders during a joint USDA Rural Development and SBA annual lenders training event in Omaha, Nebraska. Ms. Johns praised the two agencies for working together to provide lender...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: Ensuring that Americans eat well and lead healthy lives is among our greatest goals at USDA. First Lady Michelle Obama, of course, has taken an important role on this front – leading a national conversation and administration-wide effort. As part of the Lets...

Mangroves have declined by nearly half in the last 50 years. This is disconcerting to scientists because the hardy brackish tidal tree in an important bulkhead against climate change, according to findings is a recent study published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack joined Obama Administration Cabinet members Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, as well as Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, Small Business...

In a two-day span, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan may have changed the lives of up to 2,000 young Mississippians. Recently, Deputy Secretary Merrigan brought an outstanding presentation on the future of agriculture to the campuses of Mississippi’s two land grant universities...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: On Wednesday, April 20, I was notified that I had received a Champions of Change award and was invited to participate in a roundtable discussion with Administration officials and several chefs and nutritionist specialists. We were asked to discuss the healthy...

Approximately 40 U.S. food companies from every region of the United States set up shop last week at the annual Seoul Food and Hotel 2011 Trade Show, the largest food show in Korea. This year, excitement in the U.S. pavilion was particularly high as the United States recently concluded negotiations...