USDA Blog

Do you remember learning about the food groups in school? You may have been taught using the Food Wheel, Food Guide Pyramid or MyPyramid depending on your age. Kids today learn about the food groups from MyPlate. Now that the back-to-school season is settling down, the nutritionists at MyPlate are...

Last June was one for the record books as Matthew Martin achieved his long-term goal of becoming a permanent employee with the U.S. Forest Service, an achievement made possible via a new hiring authority being used by the federal land management agency. A second generation Forest Service employee...

No matter where you grew up, you are likely familiar with monarch butterflies. You may have childhood memories from science class when you watched those peculiar green caterpillars transform into beautiful butterflies. Depending on where you live, you may have seen masses of their orange-and-black...

Forests become a veritable garden in the fall, presenting a riot of color in national forests as well as on the streets where we live. But what exactly is going on in those leaves? How – and why – do leaves change color, and why is there so much variety? It boils down to chemistry.

Most have probably heard Wisconsin’s famous moniker “The America’s Dairyland.” This nickname is definitely befitting considering our long history with milk production. But, while our milk, cheeses, and other dairy products are available year-round, the fall season brings attention to a completely...

July in America. It is summer time and school’s out. It is about vacations and maybe a trip to the beach. It is Independence Day—the 4 th of July—and parades and fireworks. It is about barbecues, hotdogs, and burgers. 2015 marks America’s 239 th birthday. July is also the month for another important...

The second in a series of blogs honoring the United Nation’s 2015 International Day of Forests On Saturday, March 21, the U.S. Forest Service will celebrate the United Nation’s International Day of Forests. With such an important worldwide recognition of all forests do for us humans, the Forest...

Every day, millions of students are able to enjoy a nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunch thanks to the National School Lunch Program. Everyday they’re in school, that is. But what happens to these children when school lets out during the summer? That’s when vital programs offered by USDA’s...

Hattie Thompson has a heart for growing healthy food for her community thanks to the help of her new seasonal high tunnel. “My mission is to network throughout the local community with other growers who might be interested in doing the same thing, and to teach children and mothers about nutrition,”...

Plants provide us with many things that we use on a daily basis – from the buildings in which we live and work, to our clothing and food. For flowering plants to thrive and reproduce, they often rely on pollinators to transport pollen between flowers. Pollination ultimately results in fruits and...