USDA Blog

Cross-posted from the FoodSafety.gov blog. What would Thanksgiving be without the turkey? Most of us plan our entire holiday dinner around the turkey. That’s a lot of pressure on one bird!

Recently Utah’s Snow College and the surrounding community gathered to celebrate the opening of the new Traditional Building Skills Institute (TBSI) building, resulting in job and educational opportunities as well as historic preservation.

Last week, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan and a delegation of senior officials traveled to Abingdon, Virginia, to announce the Appalachian Regional Development Initiative, an Interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) designed to build a stronger and more diversified economy in...

In 2010, the USDA National Farmers Market Directory counted over 6,200 operational farmers markets in the country. That’s more than a 16 percent growth in farmers markets from 2009. In every state and season, shoppers flock to nearby farmers markets in search of healthy, fresh foods. Farmers markets...

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA’s rich science and research portfolio

When I learned this week of one of our folks being named a candidate finalist for the White House Savings Award, I couldn’t have been more pleased with her idea and effort to improve the way in which we try to achieve a higher standard of how we do things every day. Marjorie Cook, an FSIS inspector...

As the population of the United States has transitioned from a predominantly agrarian society to an increasingly more urban one, our youth have become detached from a fundamental understanding of agriculture. Nonetheless, we benefit from the innovations and efficiencies of our food supply on a daily...

Today, USDA’s Economic Research Service released the report “Household Food Security in the United States 2009,” and reported that 17.4 million households had difficulty providing enough food due to a lack of resources, about the same as in 2008. In more than a third of those households, at least...

I was thrilled to stand in the Civic Center in Pelham, Ala., on October 29 th to celebrate the State of Alabama’s great accomplishment of 52 Alabama Public Schools meeting USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge. Alabama has received 39, more than half of HealthierUS School Challenge Gold Awards of...

Earlier this week I was honored to participate in an event here at USDA that marked National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. Billy Mills, 1964 Olympic Gold Medalist addressed a capacity audience, sharing his life story and observations about how America and the world’s diversity...