Baltimore

Earlier this week it was my honor to join USDA Rural Development Acting Under Secretary Doug O’Brien and Patapsco Bank President/CEO Michael Dee to announce funding support for one of Maryland’s favorite delicacies – the Chesapeake Bay Oyster. “In today’s environment, economic recovery is the...

Depending on who you talk to, there are between 16,000 and 20,000 vacant homes in Baltimore. Once a mid-20 th century boomtown where residents built the liberty ships and liberator bombers that helped win World War II, the middle-class dreams of this city have been in a decades-long decline. Entire...

Did you know Feb. 24 through March 2 is Bird Health Awareness Week? USDA’s Animal Plant Health and Inspection Service (APHIS) invites you to celebrate by joining poultry experts on a webinar called, “Growing Chicks Into Healthy Chickens: Getting Ready for Spring,” to be held on Thursday, Feb. 28 at...

Recently I had a great opportunity to attend a meeting of Maryland’s Partnership to End Childhood Hunger. Led by Governor Martin O’Malley’s Office for Children, the Partnership "table" brings together state agencies, USDA, local non-profit organizations such as food banks, advocacy groups, and the...

The USDA Food Safety Discovery Zone began its spring 2012 tour this past Saturday at Baltimore’s B’More Healthy Expo. Staffed by five food safety experts, the Discovery Zone was arguably one of the top attractions at the expo, giving interactive tours and food safety prizes to at least 5,000...

I’m thrilled that I could join Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan last week when we announced the recipients of the People’s Garden Grant Program in Baltimore, Maryland. The backdrop for the $60,000 grant announcement to Towson University was set at the Eat Healthy Live Healthy Urban...

Over 21 million kids eat free or reduced-price breakfast or lunch at school. But what about dinner? And weekends and holidays when there is no school? Well, the answer is the newly-expanded At-Risk Afterschool Meals in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). At-Risk Afterschool Meals are now...

The USDA’s Food Safety Discovery Zone (FSDZ) concluded its 2010 tour season on November 13, 2010 at the National Science Teachers Association Area Conference, in Baltimore, MD. “How can I get this to my school and how much does it cost?” was the main question asked by the 2,617 educators who visited...

Monday was breezy in rural Maryland, but a crowd of about 70 was in high spirits as federal, state and local officials gathered at Sunnyside Farms to inaugurate a new solar panel system that will reduce power costs at this major egg producing facility.

I recently visited the Park Heights Community Farmers’ Market in Baltimore, Maryland. At USDA we’re enthusiastic about farmers markets because they help fulfill two of our primary missions – promoting good nutrition and supporting United States agriculture, especially family farmers. Farmers’...