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At USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), we subscribe to the “Every day is Earth Day” way of thinking. Celebrating Earth Day provides us with the opportunity to underscore the significance of the work being done every day by our agency, through conservation planning and producer assistance, to benefit the soil, water, air, plants and wildlife for productive lands and healthy ecosystems.

This year, on a glorious spring day, NRCS Florida invited our conservation partners, local school children and the public to join us in celebrating Earth Day. Partner organizations, including the Hernando County Friends of Native Plants Society, NRCS Mobile Irrigation Lab, Audubon Society, the Florida Division of Forestry and many others, set up exhibits with various conservation themes at the NRCS Brooksville Plant Materials Center (PMC). Our soils division was also on hand to demonstrate the NRCS Web Soil Survey.

Across our communities, young farmers are taking out loans, rolling up their sleeves and taking part in the American Dream in hopes of becoming future farmers with the ability to own a farm of their own one day.

Rebecca Hatcher and Jake Broadway are members of the Grundy County High School Future Farmers of America. When they decided to participate in the 4-H market steer project they contacted the Winchester Farm Service Agency (FSA) office about a youth loan.  After receiving the loan, each purchased a market steer to show in 4-H shows in the area and the nearby county fair. Their plan is to market and sell the steers this summer and save the profit for college. Rebecca’s father, Wade Hatcher, is sponsoring both steers at his farm.

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog:

Back in January, we posted a blog about the Chefs Move to Schools initiative, called Chef Helps Special Needs School Children Explore New Foods.  The story highlighted the efforts of Morning Star School, Orlando, Fla., and created a windfall of support in the local community for the Morning Star Foodies.  The Morning Star Foodies are the special needs students involved in the school’s Let’s Move! program.

Rural Development (RD) programs are making a positive difference in rural Florida. And, I have proof! I recently returned from a two-day tour of USDA projects with Undersecretary Dallas Tonsager and Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein where we witnessed firsthand how RD’s investment in rural Florida is paying off by providing economic and educational opportunities in Polk County where unemployment has reached almost 13 percent.

The saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child.  In this same context,  it takes all of us working together to feed hungry children, especially in the summer months when even more of our nation’s kids go without proper nutrition.  The government, however, cannot solve this challenge alone.

Over 20 million children receive free or reduced-price lunch during the school year through USDA’s National School Lunch Program.  For many of them, school meals are the only complete and nutritious meals they consume, and in the summer, many simply go without.  It is USDA’s goal to ensure that no child in the U.S. goes to bed hungry. But to accomplish this, we need the community’s support.

Together with our colleagues at USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, USDA’s Partnership Center has been working closely with pastors in Miami, Florida to expand opportunities to provide food to hungry people.  On March 24, one of our partners, the Family and Children Faith Coalition in South Florida, is hosting a training session on the Summer Food Service Program to provide free meals for congregations that host summer feeding sites.

The African-American farmer is a rare breed in the United States, and their numbers have declined dramatically over the past few decades.  This trend, particularly, is due to the fact that young people are not entering the field to replace an increasingly aging population.  In Florida, the average farmer’s age is 58.4, and approximately 45 percent of the farms in Florida are operated by farmers between 25 and 54 years of age.

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog:

I had the distinct pleasure to join the White House Assistant Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiative Sam Kass, to participate in a unique Chefs Move to Schools event at Edgewater High School Auditorium, Orlando, Fla., in celebration of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative.

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.

This year’s weather has presented some challenges for Florida’s citrus growers. In December, sub-freezing temperatures hit the citrus-growing region in the state, threatening this year’s citrus crops, which account for more than half of all citrus production in the United States.

Cross-posted from the Let's Move! Blog:

Morning Star School for special needs children in Orlando, Fla., is enjoying a culinary experience they’ll never forget thanks to First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Chefs Move to Schools” initiative and local Chef Jamie McFadden. To the student’s joy, McFadden visited the school and shared cooking projects that their team had just completed.  Chef McFadden relayed that the children were a delight and engaged, as their time together focused on fresh fruits and vegetables, food safety, and sanitation practices.  Thus far, the students have explored apples and pumpkins, and have learned about the history and origins of the foods they enjoy.