initiatives

One of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service’s (FAS) most noteworthy programs, the Cochran Fellowship Program (CFP), is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The CFP provides U.S.-based agricultural training opportunities for senior and mid-level specialists and administrators from public and private sectors concerned with agricultural trade, agribusiness development, management, policy, and marketing.

I just returned from Indianapolis and my first National FFA Convention.  Having missed the first 82 of them, I figured it was about time to see what these folks were up to.  I grew up in a part of northern New Jersey where there was no active FFA presence and where 4-H existed to help the wealthier suburban kids who actually got ponies for Christmas learn how to care for them.

John Brewer, associate administrator and general sales manager for the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of USDA recently paid a visit to the students of the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences (CHAS) to see firsthand the value of agriculture education. The school was excited to have Mr. Brewer visit the school as one of the many special events for students, who were embarking on a month full of agricultural education events including the World Food Prize in Des Moines and the 82^nd Annual National FFA Convention in Indianapolis.

In April 2008, flood waters swept through Fort Kent, Maine, damaging infrastructure and preventing emergency crews from accessing several existing water and wastewater facilities. As a result of the rising flood waters, the facilities sustained damage severe enough that they no longer met health and safety codes, leaving the community vulnerable should similar events occur in the future. The Town was in need of financial assistance for upgrades.

Hundreds of bell peppers in shades of green, red, orange and yellow were on the chopping block today at the DC Central Kitchen. The peppers, personally delivered by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack from the USDA Farmer’s Market, were on their way into quesadillas as part of the lunch menu at the DC Central Kitchen.

The last week of August was proclaimed Community Gardening Week by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and the new People’s Garden project outside the USDA headquarters fronting on the National Mall was a perfect place to discuss community garden in the greater DC-area and take a long at its future. On September 4, I joined a local farmer and USDA staff to talk about growing tomatoes, maximizing your harvest, and community gardening.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today met with local officials and community residents in Louisa, Va., and highlighted a Recovery Act project that was announced on the 100th day of the Recovery Act. As a result of a $3.3 loan through USDA Rural Development, the community of Louisa will expand their current wastewater treatment plant's processing capabilities and improve local water quality.

When I visited Washington, I met the Secretary of Agriculture who comes from the great farming state of Iowa and he knew that we were going to begin this project. In fact, the idea for this project was inspired by the First Lady’s work with Washington, D.C. students who’ve always lived in the city and have never had a chance to grow vegetables or tend to a garden. As I have the rare privilege of having some land in the center of a very crowded city, I thought some of Seoul’s city students might enjoy a similar experience.

The first community garden in the newest city in the United States, founded in 2008, celebrated its grand opening during National Community Gardening Week.

Community gardens are unique microcosms where people can learn about the science behind growing plants and provide an environment that cultivates social responsibility.