Oregon

Cross posted from the White House Rural Champions of Change website: Deborah is the Vice President of Food and Farms at Ecotrust, a non-profit organization based in Oregon.

While on a recent visit to Oregon, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Victor Vasquez visited the Canyon East farm worker housing complex currently under construction in Madras. The USDA-supported facility is scheduled for completion in August, with families moving in shortly...

This month, one of our long-time and valued partners, Umpqua Community Development Corporation (CDC)—soon to be known as Neighborworks Umpqua—in Southwest Oregon, celebrates its 20 th anniversary. It is fitting for this special event to occur during National Homeownership Month, since Umpqua CDC has...

June is National Homeownership Month, and this year's theme is "Rural Housing, Rural Jobs" to recognize the housing sector's significant role in creating jobs, maintaining viable rural communities and contributing to the economy.

On March 3 rd, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan gave an informative speech about USDA’s ‘ Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ initiative to a packed crowd of Portland State University (PSU) students and faculty. As both a PSU graduate student of Public Administration and a new employee...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: Summer Food Service Program – in the middle of winter? That question is a common one when we talk about the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). During the school year, many children receive free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch through the School...

Most people do not realize that more than half the water in the United States comes from watersheds managed on forests. Used in homes, on ranches, in industry and for energy production, water resources in forests provide important services to people, as well as habitat for a wide variety of aquatic...

Last Sunday, CBS News featured USDA Deputy Secretary Merrigan and discussed how farmers markets are part of a fundamental shift in the way people access their food and interact with their community. And, as the story notes, “… [f]armers markets and other forms of selling straight to customers are...

Anyone who has shopped at a farmers market can appreciate the freshness of the food, the interaction with farmers, and the opportunity to learn how the food was produced. As an economist with the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS), I’m also interested in what local food systems look like in the...

Bend, Oregon – Panels of economic experts, elected officials, community leaders and state agencies once again presented information in conjunction with Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Rural Development (RD) for a jointly hosted USDA Forum on Jobs & Economic Growth on January 28.