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The Hillside Farmers Co-op has some big goals for Latino farmers in southeastern Minnesota. With the help of a Small, Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grant (SSDPG) from USDA’s Rural Development, Hillside Farmers Co-op has taken another step toward reaching some of those goals.

My family spent Thanksgiving morning at the D.C. Central Kitchen, where we helped prepare dinners for the homeless and needy in our nation’s capitol. While some might describe our act as ‘giving to others,’ truth is that it was a gift to us. I want my children, aged 10 and 11, to understand that not...

A team of industry and university leaders from North Carolina visited USDA recently to tell us about their work in building a stronger statewide local food system. Nancy Creamer of North Carolina State University, John O’Sullivan and Shorlette Ammons of North Carolina A&T State University, and...

It has been more than a year since Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative to encourage conversations about local food systems. In that time, the initiative has strengthened the local foods movement that was...

Allen and Becky Clark have been farming for 17 years. When they started their small business, they grew flowers, pumpkins and corn stalks. Four years ago, they began raising goats for milk and cheese and eventually started making soap as well. The Clarks had long wanted to expand their farm but...

As the population of the United States has transitioned from a predominantly agrarian society to an increasingly more urban one, our youth have become detached from a fundamental understanding of agriculture. Nonetheless, we benefit from the innovations and efficiencies of our food supply on a daily...

When Denise Hamilton and her husband retire from their careers as teachers at West Jessamine County High School in Nicholasville, Kentucky, they plan to move to their new farm in Garrard County and supplement their retirement income by growing pasture-raised beef and organic vegetables. “We just...

The people of Winston County, Mississippi faced many of the same problems as other rural communities across the nation: declining population, rising prices, and family farmers in need of capital, business tools, and new markets for their products. But they were determined to overcome these...

The Farm Credit Council, the trade organization for the farmer-owned Farm Credit System, was recently awarded a grant by the Risk Management Agency to produce written and web-based material using case studies to explain how local food systems work in the real world of business and economics, called...

Here’s the second video in our three-part series introducing Rural Development programs that can support local and regional food systems: