May 2012

Elsbeth and Siegfried Fuchs, immigrants from Prussia, known nowadays as Germany, bought a 138-acre farm in Waterloo, Wisconsin. It was here they started dairy farming in 1964 and the couple farmed together until Siegfried passed away in 2008.

Flying C-130 Hercules aircraft and equipped with roll-on Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) which dispense retardant, U.S. Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard crews have been training around the country to help suppress wildfires this season.

With an estimated 40 million people moving each May, it’s no wonder this “very merry month” is recognized as National Moving Month.  If you plan to move this year, please don’t make a move until you check for the gypsy moth.

This invasive pest has altered the landscape in 19 States and the District of Columbia, and without your help, it threatens many more.  Since 1970, 75 million acres in the United States have been defoliated by the gypsy moth.  It’s an all too common scene in our forests: a barren, wintry look in the middle of summer.  The gypsy moth is known to feed on more than 300 trees and shrubs.  Left unchecked, an infestation of gypsy moth can defoliate up to 13 million acres of trees in one season.

First Lady Michelle Obama was thinking of Sam Shihadeh and Rose Fakhoury when she challenged faith-based and community organizations to appoint wellness ambassadors.  Sam, a personal trainer and council member of the Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Washington DC, and Rose, the Director of St. George’s Sunday School, joined forces to lead, organize and take action to improve health and wellness in their community.  St. George Church hosted a Let’s Move! event on May 5^th to get their community members eating healthy foods, moving and working to combat childhood obesity.

As a congregation inspired to fight obesity, the church practices what it preaches.  The event kicked off with children racing through an outdoor obstacle course.  During the day attendees heard from a diverse group of panelists such as doctors, personal trainers, and a registered dietitian, on the importance of leading a healthy life.  I joined Paul Monteiro of the White House Office of Public Engagement to share more about the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative.

Recently, representatives of USDA and other federal agencies held a collaboration meeting with the federally recognized tribes of the Bering Straits/Norton Sound Region in Alaska.

The meeting was the second in a series of Tribal Collaboration Meetings scheduled with federally recognized tribes in Alaska. The venue for the dialogue was the beautifully restored Old Saint Joe’s Church Community Center in Nome. Old Saint Joe’s is situated in Nome’s town center and proved to be a perfect site for this historic meeting between federal officials and tribal leaders.

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is celebrating the agency’s 40^th anniversary today.  While APHIS’ program activities and responsibilities have grown and evolved since the Agency’s founding in 1972, the mission remains the same:  serving the public by protecting the health and value of American agriculture and natural resources.

Brandon, South Dakota, with a population of about 9,000, has seen significant growth in the last decade, including the area of senior care.  There are two assisted living communities in Brandon, but there has never been a nursing home.  This has put strain on both the patients and their families.

Bethany Lutheran Home for the Aged, LLC operates a nursing home in Sioux Falls, a neighboring community, and the Bethany Meadows independent and assisted living facility in Brandon.  Bethany, which is owned by six area churches, proposed building a nursing home addition on its Bethany Meadows campus in Brandon.  Because the nursing home industry is regulated, financing can be hard to come by, and financing for new construction needs to be at the lowest possible interest rate.

No one should live in this world for himself alone, but to do good for those who come after him.

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly seven years since the lives of the citizens of New Orleans and surrounding areas of the Gulf Coast were changed forever in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. This epic storm demanded an immediate and unprecedented response. I was proud to be part of USDA’s team that quickly mobilized to provide disaster food assistance.

Most Americans’ diets fall short of Federal recommendations, especially when it comes to whole grains, low-fat dairy products, and fruits and vegetables. Some nutrition researchers and food writers blame cost, saying fruits and vegetables and other healthy foods are more expensive than less healthy ones.  And on a per calorie basis, that’s true.  Calorie-sparse fruits and vegetables cost more than a donut, and skim milk costs more than whole.  But is price per calorie the only way to think about a food’s cost?