August 2010

Islands often have to import many basic necessities and Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands, is no exception. That’s why the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Kagman Watershed Project is so important to the island.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have made a renewed commitment to investment and outreach in Indian reservations. As the USDA works to implement legislation within the 2008 Farm Bill, department officials have met with tribal nations across the country to gather feedback on ways to implement certain sections of the Farm Bill specifically relevant to Indian country.

Earlier this week, USDA Rural Development staff  joined the Kansas Department of Transportation and the City of Parsons, to celebrate the official opening of Giefer Drive and Tolen Creek Industrial Park as well as the completion of the US 59 Recovery Act Highway Project.

Cross-Posted from the Know Your Farmer Know Your Food Blog

I recently participated in the launch of a Fruit and Veggie Rx program in Portland, Maine.  It is a promising health initiative, led by the nonprofit Wholesome Wave, that allows physicians to track the overall well-being of at-risk patients after prescribing more fruits and vegetables to family diets.  In Portland, the pilot will focus on Somali refugee women at extremely high risk for diabetes as they transition to healthful diets. The initiative is a good example of partners working together to encourage and support efforts to address both hunger and obesity in our communities.  Farmers markets can and are playing a key role in this effort.

It’s that time of year again. As summer begins to wind down (though you couldn’t tell by the Texas heat), parents are preparing for their children’s eventual return to school. As we all shift gears back into the school year, we at FNS remember our many partnerships throughout the region, especially those within the Dallas Independent School District. One in particular I’ve had the pleasure to take part in is the People’s Garden at B.H. Macon Elementary in South Dallas.

Antes de juramentar como Secretario de Agricultura, tuve la oportunidad de reunirme con algunos individuos que sirvieron en la posición en el pasado.  A estos les pedí consejo y dos de los más recientes Secretarios mencionaron que era importante que me enfocara en los derechos civiles.  Aprendí rapidamente por mi cuenta que el USDA tiene un historial de derechos civiles desafortunado y de altibajos, un historial de discriminación contra clientes y empleados que se extiende por varias decadas.

Cross-Posted from the Know Your Farmer Know Your Food Blog

USDA Rural Utilities Administrator Jonathan Adelstein was a guest speaker earlier this week at the South Dakota Association of Telephone Cooperatives 2010 Annual Meeting and Conference.  Adelstein spoke to a crowd of over 150 telephone cooperative managers and representatives on USDA Rural Development’s strong support towards improving rural telecommunications and broadband.

It isn’t every day you celebrate a groundbreaking on an island 6 miles off the Maine coast- but that is just what I did last week along with United States Senator Susan Collins and other officials in order to mark the beginning of construction on the new Swan’s Island Library.

Tyler Brune, of Sedgewickville, Mo., dreams of being a farmer some day, and Missouri Farm Service Agency (FSA) is helping to make his dream a reality through the Farm Loan Program and the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act).