Blog Archives

When I was a kid, there was one category for bees – “the stinging kind.” Fear of being stung wouldn’t allow me to consider variations among the swarms that patrolled playgrounds. The only thing that made bees tolerable was … the honey.

Hello, I’m Dr. Beth Lautner, Director of USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)'s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa.  We’re the animal health reference and confirmatory lab for USDA.  We work mainly with livestock and poultry health, but also deal more and more with companion animal issues.  It is exciting to be on the front lines of what’s going on with regards to animal health.

I grew up on a livestock farm and had many dogs and cats.  I always enjoyed working and interacting with animals and admired the veterinarians I met.  From the time I was twelve, I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian.  After vet school, I practiced for 12 years in a mixed animal (livestock and dogs/cats) practice.  It was a great opportunity to learn a lot of different aspects of veterinary medicine.

Lisa Rice, an employee of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), was recently honored with the Patriot Award by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR).

Over 100 government officials, federal program representatives, non-profit organizations, and Native entrepreneurs came together recently to advance Indian business development in South Dakota.

Southwest small business owners will have an opportunity in September to learn how to grow and support their businesses by partnering with USDA and the Department of Interior (DOI).

The meeting, in New Mexico, supports the White House Initiative on Small Business Contracting.  

With summer in full swing, my colleagues and I had the opportunity to visit Summer Food Service sites in Indian Country.  Our journey landed us first at a Bureau of Indian Education school in Eagle Butte, South Dakota on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation.  Eagle Butte is about 170 miles northeast of Rapid City, SD and home to a Seamless Summer site in full operation, serving over 200 kids daily breakfast and lunch.

Cross posted from the FoodSafety.gov blog:

We look forward all year to our summer vacations. Whether you’re camping, hitting the beach, boating, or relaxing in a mountain cabin or beach house, you’ll probably be packing food.

Plan Ahead
When planning meals for a vacation, think about buying shelf-stable foods, such as canned foods, to stay safe. If you are packing perishable foods (meat, poultry, eggs, and salads) for eating on the road or to cook at your vacation spot, plan to keep everything on ice in your cooler. Have plenty of ice or frozen gel-packs on hand before starting to pack food. Consider packing drinks in a separate cooler so the food cooler is not opened frequently. Read last week’s blog to learn more tips on packing a cooler.

In years to come, members of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas won’t have to travel far to gather the treasured longleaf pine needles used to make their traditional handmade baskets.

Cross posted from the White House blog:

At the Department of Veterans Affairs, Secretary Shinseki often talks about the tyranny of distance – the distance that often separates Veterans from care at their nearest VA medical facilities. For about 3.3 million Vets, or 41 percent of the total enrolled in VA’s health care system, distance is more than a challenge. Distance can mean rural Veterans don’t have access to the care and services they’ve earned.

Secretary Shinseki made it clear – this summer, he wanted to hear from Veterans in the hardest to reach places. “I know from previous experience that sitting in Washington with a 2,000-mile screwdriver trying to fine tune things at the local level never works,” he said. So, we hit the road to learn firsthand.

As Associate Administrator of USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), one of my duties is to lead all-employee meetings with the Agency’s field offices across the country. During my travel, I often visit local projects and success stories in agriculture that have connections with USDA projects.  Recently, I visited one of RMA’s outreach partners in Raleigh, North Carolina— the Longview School and Inter-faith Food Shuttle.

RMA is funding this unique urban agriculture project through a current partnership agreement with the North Carolina Farm Transition Network.  The project,  in  coordination with Patrick Faulkner, Longview FFA Chapter, and Sun Butler of Inter-faith Food Shuttle, provides hands-on training for students and the community on managing risks associated with gardening and horticulture, improving health, building collaborations, reducing hunger, and potentially,  enhancing career skills related to the local food system and the food value chain.  As a part of this project, Mr. Faulkner has taken students to on two field trips for educational purposes: A national workshop on growing food at Growing Power in Milwaukee, Wis., with Will Allen, and a trip to Washington, D.C., for the National FFA Leadership Conference.