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Today USDA commemorates its much talked about 150th Anniversary and there is no better way for the People’s Garden Initiative to celebrate than to plant history.

Throughout 2012, in conjunction with the Department-wide celebration, People’s Gardens around the globe are growing Tomato ‘Abraham Lincoln’ as a living tribute to our founder – Abraham Lincoln. It’s an effort which reminds us that for generations, Americans have joined together to garden for a cause.

Tomorrow, May 15, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will celebrate 150 years of work on behalf of agriculture, rural America and people throughout the country and world. In anticipation of tomorrow's activities, the 30^th Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, sat down today for the May edition of our monthly Virtual Office Hours on Twitter to answer questions about USDA's rich history as well as issues that face the Department today.

During the 45 minute chat, questions poured in for Secretary Vilsack across all issues and subject matters, and with each response, helped us to tell the story of the importance of USDA throughout history, and to paint a picture of the breadth of USDA’s vast portfolio. Our continued work on food, agriculture, economic development, science, natural resource conservation and many other issues will ensure USDA still fulfills Lincoln's vision - touching the lives of every American, every day. 

Many children believe their food comes from the grocery store. But a class of 23 Mississippi second-graders knows better than that – the delicious food they love starts with a seed.

Students from Madison Avenue Elementary visited a new People’s Garden at an office of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and planted seeds of squash, watermelon, pumpkin, cucumber and, of course, the “Abraham Lincoln” tomato.

On May 15, we will recognize the 150th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  On that date in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law an act of Congress establishing USDA.

Two and a half years after he established the Department, in what would be his final annual message to Congress, Lincoln called USDA "The People's Department."

President Lincoln knew the importance of agriculture to our prosperity – particularly at a time when about half of all Americans lived on the farm. And while that number today stands at about 2 percent, our values are still rooted in rural America.

Did you know USDA brings Thanksgiving dinner to our troops serving abroad?
Did you know that USDA is responsible for fabric testing, including creating flame-retardant finishes used on products like firefighters’ uniforms and military clothing and children’s pajamas?
Did you know 1 in 5 Americans drink H2O that originated on a national forest?

Six.

That’s the total number of name changes the Farm Service Agency has seen since its birth in 1933. With each change came new responsibilities, new programs and new incentives for farmers and ranchers to produce affordable food and fiber for U.S. consumers.

The 1929 stock market crash combined with the dust bowl of the 1930s merged into the Great Depression, which created high levels of unemployment and a long list of farm failures. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected, promising Americans a New Deal. FDR stated in a speech that “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself.”

Happy Birthday USDA!!  We are 150 years strong, serving as federal department bettering the lives of the American people.  For over 40 years USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has served as the federal agency in USDA that administers the Nation's domestic nutrition assistance programs.  Our 15 programs comprise the Nation's food safety net, serving 1 in 4 Americans. They include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (formerly the Food Stamp Program), National School Lunch Program (NSLP), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, and The Emergency Food Assistance Program, among others.

As USDA celebrates its 150 year anniversary; we remember many milestones such as the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) establishment in 1935.  In the 1930’s, only about 10 percent of rural folks had electricity while people living in town had 90 percent coverage across the nation.  With the assistance of REA funding, by 1942, nearly 50 percent of US farms had electricity, and by 1952 almost all US farms had electricity.

Throughout the year, and this month in particular, USDA celebrates 150 years of existence. The legislation that established USDA was signed on May 15, 1862, by President Abraham Lincoln. At that point, food safety wasn’t a major concern for the People’s Department.

The turning point for domestic meat inspection really came in 1905 and 1906, after Upton Sinclair published The Jungle. The details of the book described unsanitary working conditions in a Chicago meatpacking house, putting meat consumers at risk for disease.

USDA’s Chief Economist Joseph Glauber and his staff advise the Secretary on economic issues but are also charged with producing official USDA supply and demand projections and forecasts.  The Office of the Chief Economist’s (OCE’s) monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report that is  recognized globally as the benchmark report for world agricultural commodity markets.  The WASDE report provides valuable planning and decision-making information to U.S. farmers, commodity traders, the agricultural industry, and USDA policymakers.