Initiatives

Before coming to the USDA National Organic Program (NOP), Laura Gallagher worked on farms and with community gardening organizations in the Midwest and Northeast providing training and education. Now Laura helps NOP manage the Organic Integrity Learning Center (OILC) and the Human Capital Capacity Building Initiative to help build the future of the organic workforce.

When the embassy is buzzing with the excitement for an event, it’s easy to feel proud of the important contributions our agency is making towards creating a better world. I experienced these feelings of pride and patriotism when I assisted during Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Hanoi, Vietnam in August. This was the first time a U.S. Vice President visited Vietnam since its reunification in 1975.

USDA is committed to improving equity and access to its programs, including Federal crop insurance. This year, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), which oversees the national Federal crop insurance program, will invest nearly $1 million in risk management education projects with trusted partners.

The Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) mission is to create domestic and international marketing opportunities for U.S. producers of food, fiber, and specialty crops. To accomplish this mission, AMS supports farmers markets in four ways.

The Secretary proclaimed the first week of August as National Farmers Market Week (PDF, 146 KB) as a way to champion the direct-to-consumer producers, market managers, and customers that make their communities come alive during market days.

The Oregon Convention Center (OCC) was not open for usual business, but served a critical function to Oregon residents – one of the largest vaccine sites in the country. Over the past two months, the USDA assisted in providing over 320,000 vaccines in Portland by partnering with FEMA to vaccinate America.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you say agriculture? If it’s a farm, then you’re right, but there’s so much more to agriculture these days. This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) co-hosted a virtual Youth Summit with Prairie View A&M University to let Texas K-12 students, educators, and youth-serving organizations discover the endless learning and career opportunities in agriculture.

Who are the students pursuing careers in ag? We spoke to college students from minority-serving institutions who recently met (virtually) with USDA officials and partner organizations through the Future Leaders in Agriculture Program. They shared their insights on the event, their studies, and their future careers.

February is Black History Month, a time to recognize and celebrate the hard-fought achievements, sacrifices, and contributions made by Black Americans to every aspect of our country’s diverse cultural heritage, and particularly to the agricultural industry. It’s also a time for us to honor the Black farmers and ranchers of today, who are providing food, fiber, and fuel for the nation.

On the cold January night following her swearing in earlier in the day as the first woman vice president of the United States, Kamala D. Harris and First Gentleman Doug Emhoff stood before the Lincoln Memorial. The stoic face of Lincoln looked eastward, past some of the signposts of our history in the form of war memorials and monuments, all the way to the U.S. Capitol. The monuments before both Lincoln and Harris are symbols of American history; but this January, history was unfolding at Lincoln’s feet.