Kevin Concannon (left), Under Secretary, Food Consumer and Nutrition Services, Dr. Elisabeth Hagen (center), Under Secretary for Food Safety and Emily Wise (right), a fifth grade student at Maryland City Elementary School in Laurel, MD, discuss the plants native to Maryland that will be going into the school garden. Undersecretary Concannon and Undersecretary Hagen were at Maryland City Elementary for the USDA, Food Safety Inspection Service, Food Safety Education Camp on Thursday, May 5, 2011. USDA Photo by Bob Nichols.

For most kids, summer vacation means picnics, parks and play. But for some children, summer vacation can, unfortunately, mean going hungry. Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland understand this harsh reality and have taken steps to keep children fed during the summer months. Read more »

On Wednesday May 4^th, Secretary Tom Vilsack joined tribal leaders to discuss energy opportunities across Indian Country at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Tribal Energy Summit here in Washington, DC. The event was a culmination of Energy Roundtables that had taken place across the country over the past few months and provided an opportunity for tribal leaders to hear from cabinet officials about energy programs across the United States Government. Read more »

The Calvert, Texas Independent School District senior class of 2011 will pack their bags this month for a trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture thanks to the Falls County Farm Service Agency and a generous sponsorship by a local bank.

“Words will never be able to express how fortunate and excited we are to be given this opportunity,” said Shameka Grimes, senior class president and student council vice president. “Many of us have never been outside the state of Texas so we look at this opportunity as a once in a lifetime experience,” she said. She credited Enterprise Bank with making the trip possible. Read more »

Civil Engineering Technician Robert Gober recently celebrated his 50th Anniversary working for NRCS. Gober has been stationed in the Brady, Texas field office for the last 45 of those 50 years.

When young people set out to find a job, they usually don’t think, “What am I going to do for the next 50 years?” Instead, they tend to ask themselves, “What is something I would enjoy doing right now?” Read more »

As National Moving Month, May marks the height of the moving season.  It also marks a time of great peril for America’s forests.  Gypsy moths normally get their best chance to spread across the country in May as they hitchhike with people moving or traveling from an infested area to a noninfested area.  This year should be different, however, thanks to an outreach campaign called “Your Move Gypsy Moth-Free” that USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently launched.

The stakes are high: Gypsy moth caterpillars can defoliate, weaken, and kill more than 300 different types of trees and shrubs.  Since 1970, this dangerous forest pest has defoliated 75 million acres in the United States.  If left unchecked, an infestation can defoliate up to 13 million acres of trees in one season.  New infestations are typically caused by gypsy moth egg masses that people transport accidentally when moving or traveling from an infested area to a noninfested area.  That’s why APHIS requires these individuals to inspect for and remove gypsy moth egg masses from outdoor household items—before they move. Read more »

Foresters from the USDA Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Nebraska Forest Service helped prepare the Nebraska Air and Army Guard’s Agriculture Development Team (ADT) for an 11-month deployment to Afghanistan.

The ADT will deploy to Afghanistan from July 2011 to May 2012 and work with local government, university and non-governmental organization personnel to improve agriculture and forestry in the war-torn country. Read more »