Search

Last Wednesday the weather was about as good as anyone has reason to expect for March in Michigan, which was a good thing as we had a lot of ground to cover and a lot of new projects to celebrate.

Today Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan joined New Jersey Congressman Rush Holt and dozens of farmers from across central New Jersey as part of the Congressman’s Agriculture and Nutrition Policy Day. The Deputy Secretary spoke to a diverse group of farmers about USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your...

Most Americans reading this blog have probably heard of Talkeetna, Alaska. Not only is it the primary air access point for climbers planning to scale Mount McKinley (Denali) but it is also a tourist stop on the Alaska Railroad, especially in the summer. Talkeetna is unincorporated, but hundreds of...

Now, for an update on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding Raleigh County (West Virginia) Public Library in Beckley was awarded through the Rural Development Community Facilities program to obtain a new bookmobile. I had yet another opportunity to interview Gary Knapp...

by Jamie Welch, Grade 8, Worcester Preparatory School

Jane Ray was ironing clothes and watching the news when a story inspired her to action. The news story showed First Lady Michelle Obama speaking to employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., telling them about the agency’s People’s Garden initiative. Ray, who grew up in...

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to see first hand how the Forest Service Job Corps Program changes lives. The motto of the Centennial Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center (JCCCC) is "Creating brighter futures one individual at a time" and this motto is applicable to all 28 JCCCCs. My day at...

Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan visited the Utah Food Bank in Salt Lake City today, where she took a tour of the facility and helped assemble meal packets with USDA foods. Merrigan highlighted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and the ARRA funding that Utah Food Bank...

With much of Mississippi located in rural areas and many of those rural areas lacking broadband access, it should be no surprise when USDA Rural Development’s Mississippi team chose to take extra initiative to make sure that Mississippi’s rural cities and counties take full advantage of the...

By Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture The timing of the School Nutrition Association’s (SNA) annual legislative action conference couldn’t have been better as USDA and the Obama Administration continue working on advancing the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act. I really appreciated the...