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When you walk around many of the nation’s cafeterias, you will notice that plenty of changes have taken place on school lunch menus. Thanks to new standards and other efforts by the USDA, the lunches for our children have become healthier. The new standards, which were implemented for the 2012-2013...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture works every day to improve childhood nutrition and combat obesity in order to raise a healthier generation of Americans. In recent days, we have had some positive developments in this work. USDA released a promising new report on the impacts of providing our...

Crisscrossing the country, from Maine to California, and from Florida to Washington, farm to school programs exist from coast to coast in small, rural towns and large, urban metropolitan areas alike. We know school cafeterias are brimming with local and regionally sourced foods, giving kids more...

I was recently invited to give a presentation at the 2 nd annual Ohio Farm to School Conference. Conference organizers asked me to address the future of farm to school: where did we want to be in ten years? By chance I’d asked a similar question of colleagues at Portland Public Schools a decade...

Janet Mahala runs an organic farm nestled in a small valley in the Tennessee Appalachian Mountains. Last year she started a Community Supported Agriculture membership program on her farm. Shortly thereafter she expanded production with a high tunnel which has extended her farm’s growing season by...

It’s been a little over a year since we first launched SuperTracker, and in that time we’ve loved hearing from our now over 2 million registered users – what they like about the site and ideas to make it better. We’re excited to announce a new SuperTracker feature that is based on user feedback! It...

Although in some parts of the country record snow fall and colder temperatures have masked it—spring is officially here. With the change of seasons come traditions and observances that date back to ancient times, many focused on growth, new life and change. Among these traditions are some holiday...

Is eating healthy too expensive? It doesn’t have to be if you are willing to follow three simple reminders -- Plan, Compare and Prepare. If you follow these, you and your family can save money and eat healthier.

This is the eleventh installment of the Organic 101 series that explores different aspects of the USDA organic regulations. Last week the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) published the 2012 list of certified organic operations. Our online database now provides information on 17,750 certified USDA...

I am pleased to report that over two million Americans are now using USDA’s SuperTracker, our online dietary planning and tracking tool! Today, as never before, our awareness is heightened about the importance of healthy eating. Cookbooks and diet books reign supreme in the bookstores. There are...