USDA Blog

By Virginia Manuel, Maine Rural Development State Director Diabetes, obesity, alcoholism and cancer are health problems that all of America faces, but a study showed that incidents of these problems are higher among Native Americans. The Aroostook Band of Micmacs are taking action to change those...

By Under Secretary Kevin Concannon, Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services It is so important to ensure children get enough to eat, especially during summer months when school is out and access to school meals is unavailable. And that’s why bridging the summer food gap is a high priority at USDA.

By Lori Duff, ARRA Public Affairs Specialist VT/NH Construction is just beginning on the new Food Venture Center 2, a non-profit kitchen incubator for specialty food producers in Hardwick, Vermont – and Wednesday nearly 50 people, including Sen. Patrick Leahy and USDA Rural Development VT/NH State...

Written by Rick Borchelt Butterflies are a great barometer of the health of our environment – because they spend part of their lives as caterpillars eating leaves and other vegetation, and part as adults visiting flowers and other food sources, they can be exposed to many contaminants that give us...

Where does your food come from and how does it get to your plate? For many Americans this is a question that is becoming more and more difficult to answer as they become further removed from the farm and less connected to agriculture. The hard work that goes into producing our nation’s food supply...

By Amanda Eamich, USDA Director of Web Communications Cross-Posted from the White House Open Government Blog The moment of truth has come. In March, the First Lady challenged the talented and kid-savvy innovators across the country to build games and tools that inspire and empower kids and their...

By David Cleaves, U.S. Forest Service Climate Change Advisor This update is one way we are trying to connect people inside and outside the Forest Service around the issues and the lessons we are learning in this changing climate. In implementing the Department’s new Strategic Plan (described in the...

By David Cleaves, U.S. Forest Service Climate Change Advisor “Sound climate science is the foundation for an effective management response.” These were Chief Tidwell’s words to the participants of a Forest Service workshop on climate change adaptation this past April. Using science to help us deal...

Interns from both the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) met with several senior employees from various agencies last week during the Student and Intern Information Seminar hosted by USDA. The seminar was designed to help interns better understand their agency and meet fellow...

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. By Shahla Shapouri and Stacey Rosen, Economists, Economic Research Service Depending on the pulse of the global economy...