Farmers Market

As we gear up for our next Facebook chat focusing on USDA’s work surrounding farm to schools efforts, I want to share with you a story that I came across in northeastern Iowa.

It was a moment some felt would never happen – at least not so spontaneously. The two mascots, the Forest Service’s Smokey Bear and the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Sammy Soil were amusing adults and children attending the final USDA Farmer’s Market of the year, when they met face to...

Halloween has passed, but here in DC the fall leaves are still beautiful despite all the rain we’ve been having--and last Friday USDA had a great end of season party.

October 20 marked the official launch of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) at USDA for the Washington, D.C. metro area. Administered by the government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM), CFC is the world’s largest workplace giving program. Since its inception in 1961, federal employees have...

There were many moving parts in the week-long launch of the USDA-wide initiative Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food (KYF2). In this, my first blog entry, I review the week’s events. It was, in short, a whirlwind.

In Gering, Nebraska (pop.8000 ) over the Oregon Trail Park, right next to the high school football field lies the Ever Green House. A project of Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska, the Ever Green House is a family and community development center featuring a community garden, a...

On an early fall day when the rain refused to pass farmers and producers from the DC-metropolitan region gathered for the opening of the FRESHFARM Market by the White House on Vermont Ave. Federal employees, area workers and out-of-town visitors gathered for the festivities despite the weather and...

It was a rainy morning here at the USDA headquarters in Washington DC, but that did not stop the local farm vendors from setting up shop at the weekly USDA Farmer’s Market.

Hundreds of bell peppers in shades of green, red, orange and yellow were on the chopping block today at the DC Central Kitchen. The peppers, personally delivered by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack from the USDA Farmer’s Market, were on their way into quesadillas as part of the lunch menu at the DC...

This week is National Community Gardening Week and USDA encourages you to do you part and connect with your community through gardening.