Blog del USDA

Unless you’ve lived through disaster, it’s hard to imagine what might go through your mind when first viewing a wrecked home, property, livelihood, and – seemingly – your future. But one thing that countless disaster survivors can do in the aftermath is give thanks to their neighbors in Cooperative...

At USDA our mission is a vital one: to reduce hunger and increase food security by providing children and low-income people access to food, a nutritious diet and nutrition education. And that mission was put to the test in 2017, in the aftermath of a trio of devastating hurricanes that slammed into...

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria – each Category 4 – all made landfall in less than a month between August and September 2017. It will be hard to ever forget these historic disasters and the toll they took on millions of American families. In recognition of the federal government’s Hurricane...

When a disaster strikes, farmers and ranchers don’t want a process, they want help.

Doug Harper, a fifth-generation farmer, moved to the Texas Gulf Coast area in 2012, looking forward to the potential for increasing corn, cotton, milo, and watermelon production there. Texas farmer Doug Harper comes from a long line of farmers. Growing up in the business, he knows there are always...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reports that more than 25 million Americans – almost 8 percent of the population – were affected by major disasters in 2017. From severe flooding in Puerto Rico and Texas to mudslides and wildfires in California, major natural disasters in 2017 cost...

Just as families, friends and communities came together to respond to damages that occurred during the hurricanes of 2017, so did government agencies.

Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sent the following message to all USDA employees: I want to take this opportunity on my final day at USDA to express my profound gratitude to the people who work at USDA. Every day, nearly 90,000 people leave their families and the comfort of their home to do...

According to recent data on local food marketing practices, 167,000 U.S. farms locally produced and sold food through direct marketing practices, resulting in $8.7 billion in revenue. Pennsylvania led the U.S. in the number of farms selling directly to consumers, with more than 6,000 operations...

If there is one word that best embodies agriculture, it is entrepreneurship. Over the course of my time at USDA, I’ve had the chance to meet with farmers, ranchers and food business of all sizes and in all parts of the country. The faces of these entrepreneurs and their innovative strategies and...