Janey Thornton

Special holiday series – Blog 3 of 5 Starting to plan your holiday menu? USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen and I want to help. This week we are providing low-cost holiday recipes that incorporate simple food safety tips to help you prepare healthy and safe holiday meals. So...

Special holiday series – Blog 1 of 5 As we look forward to spending the holidays with friends and family and making meals and memories together, we all want to put good food on the table and do it safely. We especially want to keep the threat of food poisoning at bay. Over the next few days, we will...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: We’re entering the home stretch in the First Lady’s Recipes for Healthy Kids competition. Judges will be fanning out to schools across the country to watch them prepare the delicious recipes that have made it to the semi-finals. My colleague, Audrey Rowe...

As soon as you enter the front doors, it is clear that nutrition and health are at the forefront of life at Bruce-Monroe Elementary in Washington, D.C. That message was unmistakable on Thursday, April 28, when I visited the dual-language school to celebrate their Gold Level of Distinction honor in...

On January 24, 2011, a wintry day in Chicago, 20,000 high school students in the Chicago Public Schools were treated to a prize-winning, delicious and healthy school lunch created by their fellow students. Topping the menu was Afro-Caribe Plancha (Cuban turkey, black beans, provolone cheese and...

I was privileged to go to the State of Mississippi on Dec. 9, for a HealthierUS School Challenge event. Actually, I was there for three events and 11 schools received either USDA’s Gold of Distinction Awards or Gold Awards. One of the six schools that was recognized for the Gold of Distinction Award...

I was thrilled to stand in the Civic Center in Pelham, Ala., on October 29 th to celebrate the State of Alabama’s great accomplishment of 52 Alabama Public Schools meeting USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge. Alabama has received 39, more than half of HealthierUS School Challenge Gold Awards of...

Recently, I had the privilege of visiting Northern Mississippi to recognize two schools for meeting USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC). I stopped at Pope Elementary/Junior High School in Pope, Miss. and met with and congratulated the cafeteria and other staff for achieving a Bronze Award. I...

Dr. Janey Thornton, Deputy Under Secretary for USDA Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services

By Darlene Barnes, Mountain Plain Regional Administrator, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service Colorado Springs, Colorado, May 12, 2010