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#USDARoadTrip: USDA Innovates to Meet Your Needs

Posted by Matthew Herrick, USDA Director of Communications in Conservation Food and Nutrition Forestry Technology
Jul 20, 2015
A person holding a digital map on a smart phone
Digital maps available for your smart phone help visitors find their way around U.S. Forest Service forests and grasslands.

USDA is in the solutions business. And now more than ever, we’re committed to working beside farmers, ranchers, rural businesses and partners to find innovative and collaborative solutions that meet the ever-evolving interests of the American people.

This week, as part of our USDA summer road trip, we’ll take you through a few of our signature advancements from recent years that help us to better serve your needs, including a series of mobile and web based applications that allow you to interact with USDA programs and services your way.

KYF2 Compass screenshot
Updated in May 2015, the Compass map shows you the local foods landscape in your community and around the country. Data includes USDA and other federally supported local food projects, farmers markets, food hubs, meat processors and more! Now fully searchable. (Click to enlarge)

For example, did you know your personal calorie number may not be based solely on your height and weight? Research shows us that age, gender, activity level, weight, weight loss history, and goal weight might all play a role in determining the calories you need every day--which means individual dietary needs can differ slightly from person to person.

That's exactly the idea behind a new USDA collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that is working to address the individualized health requirements of the American people by empowering them to tailor their healthy diet to their own dietary needs. Starting today, NIH’s free Body Weight Planner is now offered to the USDA SuperTracker's 5.5 million registered users and can help you make a plan to reach your goal weight and then maintain it afterward. Read more about the announcement, and then start your planning today.

1Mom SuperTracker graphic
This image shows a daily food plan, which tells how much of each food group to eat to get the necessary nutrition while staying within a calorie allowance. (click to enlarge image)

This week, and throughout the rest of July, we’ll continue to make stops across USDA’s technology and investments corridor to look at some of the innovative ways USDA is working to advance our work for the American people and drive the rural economy. Stay tuned to #USDARoadTrip to see how USDA is working in all corners of our nation to build a stronger, more sustainable America through partnership, progress and promise.

The USDA National Farmers Market Directory screenshot
The USDA National Farmers Market Directory. With a few easy clicks, market managers can add their farmers market to the more than 7,000 markets already listed in the directory.

 

Conservation Client Gateway homepage screenshot
Conservation Client Gateway is a secure new website that lets farmers and ranchers request conservation assistance, review and sign documents, track payments and more.