Blog Archives

On July 6^th, I attended an event to kick-off this season’s Summer Food Service Program in Texas and to celebrate the state’s third annual “Mayor’s Challenge” to end child hunger during the summer. The event was held at NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders’ youth camp in Duncanville, Texas.

On July 18, USDA Rural Development State Director Virginia Manuel joined Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office David Kappos for a White House Business Roundtable hosted by local lender Bangor Savings Bank.  Participants in the discussion included 15 leaders from the Bangor region representing a variety of sectors including business, healthcare, medical research, transportation, and energy.

During the Roundtable entitled Winning the Future with American Business, Maine leaders had the opportunity to voice their concerns about economic growth and the challenges they face as business owners/leaders. This Roundtable discussion also provided a chance for the Administration to ensure local business leaders are taking advantage of the resources and programs designed to help them create jobs and compete.

One in six Americans lives in hunger every day, as millions of Americans struggle to put food on the table for their families.

Traditionally, summer is a time when food banks and charities encounter decreases in donations and increases in the need for assistance.

After years of paying rent while wishing he could purchase his own home, 29-year-old Adam Brautigan was finally able to do so with the help of USDA Rural Development. Adam found out about Rural Development’s home loan program from his mother, Mary Kay, who works as a realtor in Pine City, Minnesota.

Adam works at a local retail store, and his wages restricted the amount of money available to put toward a house payment.

Yesterday, Secretary Vilsack and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley hosted Maryland's fourth annual "Buy Local" cook out. The event kicked off Maryland's "Buy Local Challenge Week" which encourages Marylanders to incorporate at least one locally-grown, produced or harvested product into their meals each day.

Through a variety of promotional activities in Korea, the U.S.A. Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) is showcasing the quality and value of U.S. poultry products and promoting the benefits of implementation of the Korea-U.S. Trade Agreement (KORUS).

At the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we are looking for new ways to help America’s producers succeed every single day. We want farmers and growers with operations of all sizes to be profitable and to make the decisions that are best for their land and their families.

We know that when agriculture is healthy and rural America is healthy, it helps support our nation as a whole.

That is why we have worked to help strengthen American agriculture by expanding markets for our goods and supporting innovation.

As the Associate Administrator for the Risk Management Agency, I visit our offices in all parts of the country.  My recent trip to Dallas, Texas, provided an exciting look at a truly amazing agricultural program and astonishing new ideas at Paul Quinn College.

Last week, community leaders from all over the country visited Washington DC to join the White House for the first Hispanic Policy conference in our nation’s history. The goal was to get a dialogue going between administration officials and community leaders on an array of topics of particular interest to the Hispanic community. Some of the topics included jobs, education, immigration and energy. I had the honor of attending the conference on behalf of USDA.

The two-day event was coordinated and hosted by the White House Office of Public Engagement and the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. 160 Hispanic leaders from 25 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico attended the discussion as well as over 100 administration officials.

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) recently held its first Spanish-language webinar: An Introduction to PACA - In Spanish. Pat Romero, Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) Western Regional director, introduced participants to the PACA Branch and discussed how it protects the produce industry.

Every day, PACA receives inquiries from produce companies requesting assistance to handle problems such as interpreting inspection certificates, settling contract disputes, and addressing bankruptcy problems.  The branch promotes fair trading practices in the fruit and vegetable industry by establishing and enforcing a code of fair business practices and by helping companies resolve their disputes.