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food access


Increasing Food Access through Farmers Market Implementation and Education

August 10, 2023 Danielle Barber, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, Local & Regional Foods Division, Transportation and Marketing Program, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA

In celebration of National Farmers Market Week (August 6-12), and to further the awareness of farmers markets’ contributions to healthy food access, AMS is highlighting a cooperative agreement partnership with the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) that set out to develop and pilot on-campus farmers...

Equity Farming

Food Safety in Numbers

March 08, 2016 Carl Schroeder, Director of the AMS Food Safety and Commodity Specification Division

March is National Nutrition Month. Throughout the month, USDA will be highlighting results of our efforts to improve access to safe, healthy food for all Americans and supporting the health of our next generation. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) purchases nearly 100 million pounds of...

Food and Nutrition Health and Safety

Bringing More Farmers Markets to Service Members

November 10, 2015 Anne L. Alonzo, Agricultural Marketing Service Administrator

As we take time this week to honor America’s veterans, we are also thinking about how we can improve the health and welfare of military communities across the country. That’s why we are so proud to release the first-ever Guide for Farmers Markets on Military Installations. By assisting military...

Food and Nutrition Farming

On the Road in Santa Fe - Saluting Farmers Markets All the Way

July 31, 2015 Anne L. Alonzo, Agricultural Marketing Service Administrator

Greetings from New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment! I’m here at the Santa Fe Farmers Market, where local farmers and ranchers have come together to sell their goods to the community for more than 50 years. This popular farmers market started with just a handful of growers and now has more than 100...

Food and Nutrition Farming

Grant it, Food Hubs Mean More Local Food for You

April 22, 2015 Arthur Neal, Deputy Administrator, AMS Transportation & Marketing Program

Spring is upon us and many local farmers markets are opening with displays of brilliant and vibrant colors. The fresh air has more people talking about and buying local foods. In fact, data from the USDA Economic Research Service suggests that farmers across the country sold an estimated $6.1...

Food and Nutrition Farming

New USDA Survey Examines Where We Shop for Groceries and How We Get There

March 31, 2015 Michele Ver Ploeg, Lisa Mancino, and Jessica E. Todd, Economic Research Service

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s rich science and research portfolio . We’ve long recognized that what we eat affects our health. But distances to stores offering healthy and affordable foods—as...

Research and Science

Grant Workshops Continue USDA's Solid Investment into Local Food Sector

February 04, 2015 Arthur Neal, Agricultural Marketing Service Transportation & Marketing Program Deputy Administrator

A year ago, President Obama signed the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill) into law. Equipped with resources from the Bill, USDA continues to support the growth of farmers markets and local and regional food systems. In fact, last year the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), awarded over $27...

Food and Nutrition Farming

Continued Support for Local Food

October 02, 2014 Anne L. Alonzo, Agricultural Marketing Service Administrator

Strong local food systems are one of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Vilsack’s four key pillars to revitalize rural economies. On Monday, he announced the award of over $52 million to support local and regional food systems and the organic industry through five USDA grant programs...

Food and Nutrition Farming

Bringing the Best to School Lunches

August 26, 2014 Craig A. Morris, Deputy Administrator of the AMS Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program

Top grocery stores and restaurants in the United States guarantee their customers consistently get high quality products through rigorous standards and robust testing and oversight programs. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is doing essentially the same thing – working to ensure that...

Food and Nutrition

Acting Local, Growing Global for Good Food

March 27, 2014 Anne L. Alonzo, Agricultural Marketing Service Administrator

For over a century, my hometown of Chicago has been a cultural, financial, and agricultural hub. And as a hub, it has a long history of supporting innovation and opportunity. From the first cattle drives came the great Chicago Stockyards that supplied meat to the nation. From the early trading of...

Food and Nutrition Farming Trade
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