Food and Nutrition

An increasing number of our nation’s schools are using locally grown foods for school meals thanks to efforts of The USDA Farm to School Program . However, the availability of locally grown produce is often at the mercy of harsh weather conditions and other elements that lower production and cause...

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. Knowing what and how much to eat can be complicated. And in today’s quick-paced...

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. The upsurge in healthy eating and food security campaigns is really resonating with...

Each March, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics encourages Americans to return to the basics of healthful eating through National Nutrition Month . To kick off the month-long celebration of nutrition and health, we wanted to recognize the Academy, who initiated this observance in 1973 as a week...

Cross posted from Secretary Vilsack's Medium page: More than seven years ago, in one of my very first conversations with newly-elected President Obama, his charge to me was simple: “feed the children and feed them well.” Today, I’m proud to say that feeding children and supporting families in a time...

The recently-released Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 highlights how many Americans need to shift their dietary patterns to include more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, dairy, seafood, and oils and eat fewer refined grains, added sugars, saturated fats, and sodium. Perhaps your family...

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 celebrated its fifth anniversary last month, and I can tell you it has made a difference! I think back on the past five years and am proud of the strides we’ve made in giving students access to more local and healthy food in our schools. Accompanied by FNS...

Today, we are delighted to announce the release of the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. We know that a lifetime of healthy eating helps to prevent chronic diseases like obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and Type 2 diabetes. The Dietary Guidelines provides a clear path for the...

This time of year, it often feels like time is flying by. As we take time to step back and reflect on the past, we often think, “My, my, where did the time go?” or “It feels like just yesterday…” or “How could it be almost 2016 already?” Many of us at USDA are feeling a bit nostalgic too, wondering...

It’s been another outstanding year for healthier school meals programs and the millions of American students that benefit from them. Today, more than 97 percent of schools nationwide report they are meeting the updated school meal standards, which are based on pediatricians’ and nutritionists’...