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School Garden Brings Local Foods, Agriculture Education into Students' Lives

June 12, 2015 Tegan Hagy, Farm to School Regional Lead, Mid-Atlantic Regional Office

One of the best parts of my job as a Farm to School Regional Lead for the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service is visiting schools and districts that are bringing local foods into the cafeteria and teaching students where their food comes from. And I am always particularly excited when I get to visit...

Food and Nutrition Farming

Closing the Summer Hunger Gap for Kids in Rural America

June 04, 2015 Armando Vasquez, Public Affairs Specialist, USDA, Food and Nutrition Service

Cindy Bomar is a dedicated person; she is dedicated to her job and to her various volunteer organizations. And most of her charitable efforts are devoted to helping children, especially poor children. As a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for youth in Virginia, Cindy has all too often seen...

Food and Nutrition

Summer Meal Programs Offer Nutrition, Combat Hunger for America's Children and Teens

May 29, 2015 Audrey Rowe, USDA Food and Nutrition Service Administrator

Cross-posted from the National Dairy Council blog: Summer vacation is something all kids look forward to, but unfortunately hunger doesn’t take a vacation. More than 21 million American children and teens depend on free or reduced-price school meals during the school year, and when school cafeterias...

Food and Nutrition

MyPlate Broadens its Reach

May 28, 2015 Elizabeth Rahavi, RD, Nutritionist

As part of Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month, the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) is pleased to announce the translation of the ChooseMyPlate 10 Tips resource and MyPlate icon from English into 18 additional languages. The Office of Minority Health, of the...

Food and Nutrition

USDA, Partners Seek Creative Ways to Boost Flavor with Less Sodium for our Students

May 21, 2015 Amanda Heitkamp, Public Affairs Specialist, Food and Nutrition Service

Sodium, the major nutrient found in salt, is essential to maintain blood volume, regulate water balance in cells, and aid nerve function. According to the American Heart Association, however, too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, congestive...

Food and Nutrition

Adding a Helping of Books to Nutritious Summer Meals

May 20, 2015 Hans Billger, Public Affairs Specialist, Food and Nutrition Service

The following guest blog was submitted by Kyle Zimmer, CEO of First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides access to free and low-cost books to children in need. Many USDA summer meals sites provide not only healthy meals and snacks, but also offer physical activity and enrichment...

Food and Nutrition

USDA Agencies, Suppliers and Vendors Taking Steps to Improve USDA Foods Purchase Process

May 19, 2015 Dave Tuckwiller, AMS Commodity Procurement Program Director

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) commodity purchases play an important role in supporting American agriculture. One commodity purchasing effort - the USDA Foods Program - purchases about 2 billion pounds of nutritious, domestically produced foods each year and supplies this food to...

Food and Nutrition

New Training Tracker Tool Now Available to School Nutrition Professionals

May 18, 2015 Dr. Katie Wilson, Deputy Under Secretary, Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services

As a former school nutrition director, I can tell you that school nutrition professionals are dedicated to serving nutritious meals to their students and committed to making the new meal patterns work. Established by the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the new standards require schools to...

Food and Nutrition

Photo-Worthy Meals

May 14, 2015 Deborah Kane, National Director, USDA Farm to School Program

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and in the digital age we have ample opportunity to document and broadcast every moment, meeting and meal. We have all seen those unappetizing photos of food served at school that quickly go viral. A lonesome whole wheat bun atop a sad fish fillet; a...

Food and Nutrition Farming

Lessons Learned from a Food Service Director: Kids Like Healthy Foods

May 12, 2015 Brooke Hardison, USDA Office of Communications

The following guest blog is part of our Cafeteria Stories series, highlighting the efforts of hard working school nutrition professionals who are dedicated to making the healthy choice the easy choice at schools across the country. We thank them for sharing their stories! By Sharon Foley, Food...

Food and Nutrition
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