USDA Blog

The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) will host the second full meeting of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on May 10, 2023. The meeting will be livestreamed for public viewing. Members of the public who wish to view the meeting may register on...

If you really want your garden to bloom, consider adding high-nutrient compost to your soil. In the People’s Garden at USDA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., we set up a vermicompost system, or a system that uses worms to help with the composting process!

Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has seen a 69 percent increase in children being employed illegally by companies. In the last fiscal year, the department found 835 companies it investigated had employed more than 3,800 children in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In February...

Last month, I spent three days in Michigan and while spring weather in the Great Lakes State doesn’t appeal to some, I was excited to make the trip. After all, when I was a student at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!), I volunteered at Food Gatherers. So, when asked to speak at their “The State...

In June 2021, President Joe Biden announced the creation of the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) to root out racial and ethnic bias in home valuations after a report from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation found that appraisals for home purchases in...

Veteran John Langdon served for 20 years of active duty in the U.S. Army, including deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. He retired in July 2021, with a full career of service under his belt, but without a full appreciation of how challenging it would be to find a civilian...

Last fall, Stacy Dean, USDA’s Deputy Under Secretary for Food Nutrition and Consumer Services, visited the Fondy Farmers Market, Milwaukee's 105-year-old, largest, and first farmers market in Wisconsin to accept SNAP!

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) worked with Michigan’s Grand Traverse Band (GTB) of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians to remove blockages to natural water flow in streams and rivers through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). USDA invested over $18 million in federal...

Greeley-Evans School District 6 in northern Colorado was honored and excited to welcome Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to Maplewood Elementary School on March 22. The Secretary and visitors were able to see just one school of more than 30 in District 6 that provide essential health and...

Harvesting collard greens and making whole wheat crackers from scratch is not a typical day on the job for me as the Deputy Under Secretary of USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. But I can assure you it is the perfect recipe for a great day at work! Earlier this month, I had the chance to...